


Sour at the Centrum

by GrandDukeForever



Series: The Depth of Obsession [3]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Incest, M/M, Past Abuse, Past Underage, Sibling Incest, Tearjerker, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-25
Updated: 2014-01-14
Packaged: 2017-12-27 14:45:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 78,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/980137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrandDukeForever/pseuds/GrandDukeForever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The unintended, unplanned third installment to my Depth of Obsession series!  This one is a special thank you story to those who really supported me for the first two stories in this series!  You wanted more of my OC characters, so here it is!  This story contains "missing" scenes from both Bitter and Sweeter.  If you have not read those two fics first, I highly recommend doing so because otherwise a lot of what goes on in this story is probably not going to make a lot of sense to you.  In a lot of ways, this fic is an "inside joke" between myself and those who have been closely following the series.</p><p><b>An important note to readers:</b> This story is highly OC-centric and I understand if that's not your cup of tea, and I will totally not be offended if you choose not to read this one because of it.  Yes, the story still features Becketcest, but it will not be as prominent as it was for the first two fics.  This story only came to fruition because several of my regulars from the first two stories requested more of my OC-characters, so this is for them.</p><p>Much love to Hardyness, Ishyko, claire, sugatasc, duneline and all those who kudoed on my other stories.  You inspired this work!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Annoyance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SublimeDiscordance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SublimeDiscordance/gifts).



> I will admit, I kind of teared up while writing this chapter—partially because we all know what becomes of Jeremy and Kyle from Bitter at the Root, but also because I cannot believe my first two fics garnered so much support and had people so invested in my OC characters that they actually wanted _more!_ You guys are awesome, and thank you from the bottom of my heart! I hope you enjoy this story! If it hadn't been for you guys, Sweeter at the Summit would have ended slightly differently in that I wouldn't have written so much of Jeremy in to set it up for this fic. Please keep that last chapter of Sweeter in mind as you read, as certain things mentioned in that final chapter will eventually be brought up again in this story! (By the way, I realized a little late that I had posted an older draft of the final chapter in the last story. I did fix it, but some of you guys might have missed the change in details, haha. Like I totally changed Kyle's hair color because I forgot that I edited it in a later version. This is what happens when I use multiple programs to edit my stories because I'm not always in one place throughout the day.)
> 
> Thank you to SublimeDiscordance, for whom this story is dedicated because of your absolutely wonderful comments that warmed my heart from the minute you first left a review on...gosh...was it as early as Bitter? So crazy! Thank you a million times! Your input was and will continue to be greatly valued as I develop this new story! 
> 
> I hope all of you enjoy, and for all those who would like the original link to the prompt that started this rush of creativity, here is! (Although at this point, it's not very relevant anymore, haha.) 
> 
> http://pacificrimkink.livejournal.com/350.html?thread=87390#t87390

Jeremy was a precocious kid for the age of five, and he liked to be left alone, which was why going to school felt like such a pain.  His parents—his mother, especially—had insisted that he would have a fantastic time in kindergarten, and that he would make tons of friends.  If Jeremy had thought he had a choice or a say in the matter, he likely would have told them how he honestly felt about the idea of meeting other kids his age, and that was he just simply didn’t care for it.  

For the first few months, Jeremy’s loner attitude was working out quite well for him.  He didn’t cause disturbances in class, so the teachers rarely paid him any mind, and thanks to his genetics, his dark hair and grey eyes coupled with his quiet nature allowed him to give off an intimidating aura that successfully kept all the other kids away from him.

Then, in the winter of 1999, a new student transferred into class.  He was introduced by his teacher as Kyle Hunter, and he had just moved to the area.  His parents were both Navy Seals, and they were recently called back into service, so Kyle would now be staying with his grandparents who lived in Anchorage.  

Jeremy snuck a glance at the newcomer while he was still at the front of the classroom, holding the teacher’s hand.  His nose scrunched when their eyes met, and he quickly averted his gaze when the other boy eyed him curiously.  The dark-haired boy felt a strange tingle go down his spine, like perhaps he had made some kind of mistake, but he quickly pushed the thought to the back of his mind and busied himself with some blocks.

Kyle turned out to be the complete opposite of Jeremy in personality.  He was a rather happy-go-lucky kid, and the girls in class were already swooning over him.  The boys, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to decide whether to make heads-or-tails of him, but for the moment they were willing to include the young boy in their little games.

During finger-painting time, Jeremy suddenly felt the odd sensation of someone watching him from behind, and the hair on the back of his neck prickled.  Slowly, he turned his head only slightly so as not to appear that he was intentionally looking over his shoulder.  Sure enough, there was someone behind him.  Unfortunately, without turning all the way around, he was unable to find out who.  Hoping that whoever it was would go away, Jeremy turned back to his work and concentrated hard on splattering paint on the canvas in front of him with a scowl on his face.  

He soon became so absorbed in his task that he almost jumped sky high when he heard a voice close to his ear.  “Hi!  What’chu painting?”

Jeremy whirled around in surprise and frowned at the young boy grinning at him with his hands clasped behind his back.  It was the new arrival, Kyle.  Baffled as to why anyone would be talking to him, Jeremy decided to ignore the boy and abandon his masterpiece, walking over to the classroom sink so that he could wash his hands.  Unfortunately, his shadow was not to be deterred.

Kyle regarded the dark-haired boy with curiosity.  “You don’t know how to talk?  Do you have no voice?  My grampy’s told me about that kind of thing.”

If a third party had been watching, they might have laughed.  No kid in history probably looked as angry as Jeremy did while washing his hands.  He was practically staring daggers at the water flowing from the faucet.  Without the proper context, people could easily misinterpret the situation as his major dislike towards general hygienic habits.   

Despite giving him the silent treatment, and much to Jeremy’s dismay, the little boy rattled on.  “Do you talk with your hands then?  I don’t know any words...but I’ll ask my grampy to teach me later!”

Kyle continued to follow Jeremy even after he dried his hands off with a paper towel and tried to walk away.  No matter where he went, even during recess, the kid seemed to insist being by his side.  By the end of the day, Jeremy was thoroughly exhausted and his head was spinning.  When it was time to go home, he was distraught to discover that the new kid was assigned to the same bus he was and was made to continue enduring the endless chatter almost the entire way back to his house, because _of course_ Kyle insisted on sitting next to him on the bus.  Jeremy was further horrified to discover that the two of them got off at the same stop, but he was finally able to let out a sigh of relief when he learned that Kyle’s home was in the opposite direction of his house.  Before the other kid could get any bright ideas of following him home, Jeremy turned on his heels and raced towards his house.  Before that day, he had never been in such a hurry to go anywhere in his life.

The next day, Jeremy was extra stubborn about going to school.  His father couldn’t decide between laughing or reprimanding his son when Jeremy hung on to part of the doorframe for dear life with his two tiny hands when the older man tried to walk his son out their front door.  Charlie Daniels was holding his son up by the waist.

“Come on, son!  We’ve got to get you to school, or your mom’s going to be hollerin’,” said Charlie.

“Don’t care!  Don’t wanna go!  Don’t wanna!” Jeremy said stubbornly.

His father had to set him down then, unable to keep from laughing.  “Hoo, boy, son!  Your mom is going to kill me…”

Jeremy looked up at his father with pleading eyes.  “Can I stay home today, Dad?   _Pleaaaase?_ ”

His father’s face was red from laughing so much.  Charlie ruffled his son’s hair affectionately.

“What is it, son?  You’re putting up much more of a fight than usual.”

“I just don’t wanna go!” Jeremy said angrily.

Charlie let out a small sigh, but still smiled despite himself.  “All right, kid...tell you what.  You’re just lucky your mom ain’t here right now to put her foot down…Lord, she’d kill me if she found out about what I’m about to do.”

Jeremy perked up instantly.  The tone of voice his father was using was one the young boy recognized as defeat.  He would be getting what he wanted today.

His father rubbed at the back of his neck.  “How would you feel about coming to work with me today, buddy?”

He smiled when his son’s face lighted up instantly.  “Yeah!  I wanna do that!  Let’s go!”

Charlie chuckled.  “All right…!  But it’s our little secret...okay?  No telling your mother.”

“No problem, Dad!” said Jeremy.  “I promise!”

“Okay,” said Charlie.  “Then let’s get going.”

That day, Jeremy had a fantastic time working with his father in construction.  He loved to watch his father work and enjoyed feeling like he was included in his father’s inner circle of construction workers; it made him feel more like an adult.  Likewise, his father also enjoyed teaching his son the basics of construction, and he felt pride upon seeing the look of concentration on his son’s face as he listened intently and hung on to his every word.  

The day went by quickly for both of them, and before either of them knew it, it was time to go home.  The ride back was peaceful.  Charlie smiled as he listened to his son humming happily in the back seat and occasionally glanced in the rear view mirror, chuckling upon seeing his son swinging his legs back and forth while staring out the window at the passing scenery.

As they drew closer to home, Charlie felt that it was time for him and his son to have a talk.  “So, I hope you had a good time today, son.”

He smiled when Jeremy flashed him a huge grin.  “Mmhmm!  Sure did, Dad!”

“That was your first time seeing a construction site up close, wasn’t it?” Charlie asked.

Jeremy nodded furiously.  “Yup!  Sure was!”

“Did you like it?”

“Mmhmm!”

“Well I’m glad you did, son,” said Charlie.  “You know...someday, when you’re all grown up, I hope that you’ll want to come and work with me.”

Jeremy straightened in his seat.  “Really, Dad?!  Can I?”

Charlie chuckled.  “You sure can, kid!”

“Yay!  I like that idea!”

“I’m sure you do,” Charlie said with a smile.  “But listen...before you can do that, there’s something important that you have to do first.”

“What’s that, Dad?”

“You have to go to school.”

The smile on his son’s face immediately turned into a frown.  “Aw…!  Why?  I don’t want to!”

The older man tried his best to keep a straight face.  “Well, son...in order to become a construction worker, you have to go to school everyday and get good grades.”

“Grades?” Jeremy asked, scrunching his nose.  “What’s that?”

“Ah, well, maybe that’ll start for you next year,” said Charlie.  “Anyway, bottom line is...you can’t go work in construction if you don’t go to school.”

He waited a moment to allow for this information to sink in for his son.  After a few minutes his son crossed his arms and let out a disgruntled noise.

“Well?  Are we in agreement, son?” asked Charlie.

His son mumbled back his reply at first with narrowed eyes.  Charlie raised an eyebrow.

“What was that, son?  Speak up.”

Jeremy cleared his throat and spoke at a more audible volume.  “I said, _okay_ , Dad...I’ll go to school…”

“That’s my boy,” Charlie said with a small smile.  “Now, let’s make sure we have our story straight on what to tell your mother since you didn’t take the bus home from school today…”

The following day when Jeremy went to school, he was enthusiastically greeted by the energetic new student.  The dark-haired boy resisted the urge to groan.

“Hi!  You were missing yesterday!” Kyle said brightly.  “Were you sick?”

Jeremy ignored the kid made a beeline for one of the coloring tables.  Kyle was persistent, however, and remained at the dark-haired boy’s side.  He started making awkward hand motions close to Jeremy’s face.

“See?  My grampy taught me this yesterday!” said Kyle.  “Hello, right?  Did I do it right?”

Jeremy let out a small sigh and plopped down in one of the chairs.  He reached for a piece of paper and pulled some crayons towards himself while ignoring the boy still squirming about next to him.  After a few seconds Kyle finally stopped and frowned at his hands.

“Hm...maybe I’m doing it wrong?  You don’t look like you get it,” Kyle said, half-talking to himself.

For a moment the brunette fell silent, and Jeremy let out another small sigh of relief, thinking the endless chatter was finally over.  Unfortunately, he had let his guard down too soon, because after a few minutes the other boy was talking up a storm again.  Finally, Jeremy groaned in resignation and put his head down on the table, burying it against one arm.

He felt the other boy pat him on the back.  “Hey, you okay?”

Had he not felt so drained of his energy, Jeremy might have knocked the other boy’s hand away in frustration.  When he didn’t reply, Kyle’s poking continued.

“Are you feeling funny?  What’s wrong?”

Jeremy perked up a little when he thought he heard the other boy walk away.  He frowned though when he heard Kyle’s voice call a teacher over.

“Teacher!  Can you please come?  I think he’s not feeling so good.”

Jeremy suddenly felt the urge to kick the chair away and roll around on the floor screaming.  He couldn’t understand why this kid just wouldn’t leave him alone.  He slowly lifted his head when he felt his teacher place her hand on it.  

“Hey, Jeremy.  You feeling okay?” she asked.  “What’s wrong, honey?”

“I’m fine,” Jeremy said, shaking his head before pointing in Kyle’s direction.  “He’s bothering me, though.  Can you make him go away, please?”

He was facing the teacher, so he didn’t see Kyle’s jaw drop.  “You can talk?!”

“ _Kyle!_ ” the teacher said in a scolding tone.  “That wasn’t a very nice thing to say!   _Of course_ Jeremy can talk!”

“But…!  But…!” said Kyle.  “He’s never said anything when I talk to him!”

The teacher half-smiled.  “Well...maybe Jeremy just wants some time to himself.  Come on…!  Why don’t we go and play with some of the other kids?”

Kyle frowned.  “But I want to be his friend!”

Jeremy glared at Kyle upon hearing this.  “Well, I don’t wanna be _your_ friend…!”

The teacher gasped at this.  “ _Jeremy!_ Be nice!”

“What?  It’s true!” Jeremy said, crossing his arms across his chest.  “He’s _so annoying!_  He talks too much!  It’s making me dizzy!”

Kyle’s lip quivered.  “I...I didn’t mean…!”

The teacher sighed and gave Kyle a reassuring pat on the back.  “There, there now, Kyle…!  It’s all right…!”

The little boy held the teacher’s hand, his eyes now downcast.  The teacher gave Jeremy a stern look.

“I think you owe Kyle here an apology, young man,” said the teacher.

Jeremy frowned.  “Not fair!  Why are you taking his side?”

“It’s okay, Mrs. Woods,” Kyle said softly.  “He doesn’t have to.”

“Of course he does!” said Mrs. Woods.  “Jeremy shouldn’t be saying such mean things.”

“I was just being honest…” Jeremy muttered.

“Now, Jeremy,” said the teacher.  “Do I need to talk to your parents about your behavior?  Or are you going to try and make things right?”

“What?!  Ooh…” Jeremy frowned.  “All right...I’ll apologize…”

“Very good,” Mrs. Woods said with approval.  

Jeremy sighed and walked up closer to Kyle.  He shoved his hands into his small pockets.

“Sorry…” he muttered.

Kyle smiled shyly up at him and shook his head.  “No, it’s okay.”

Jeremy looked back up at their teacher.  “Good now?”

The woman nodded her head in approval.  “Yes, that’s good.  Now you two learn to play nicely together, all right?”

“Okay!” Kyle said brightly.

Jeremy stifled a groan and resisted smacking a hand to his forehead.  To Kyle’s credit, he didn’t talk Jeremy’s ear off for the remainder of the week, but the dark-haired boy still had to deal with the brunette constantly following him around.  By the following week, Jeremy couldn’t decide which version was worse—Kyle when he was silent, or when the kid was talking a mile a minute.  Of course, with Kyle not saying much, it became easy for Jeremy to lose track of him; something the dark-haired boy discovered when he walked home one day from the bus stop after it had finished snowing heavily earlier that day.  

At first, Jeremy had been so distracted with the sound of snow crunching beneath his own boots that he didn’t even notice that he still had a tail until he heard someone trip and fall behind him.  Jeremy frowned and looked behind him.  Sprawled out on the ground was Kyle, face first into the snow.  Jeremy took a step to approach the other boy and was surprised when Kyle suddenly lifted his head, grinning up at him.

“I’m okay!” Kyle said, holding up one of his arms.

Jeremy scowled.  “Why are you following me?”

“I wanna see where you live!” said Kyle.

“No.  Go away,” Jeremy said, shaking his head.

He turned and walked away.  Jeremy increased his pace when he heard the other boy’s footsteps padding along behind him.

“Hey!  Wait!  Don’t go so fast!” Kyle huffed as he tried to keep up.  

Jeremy stopped when he heard the boy plop on the ground again.  He turned back around and faced the boy.  This time when Kyle lifted his head, his smile wavered.

“What’s wrong with you?” asked Jeremy.  “Why don’t you just go home?”

“But…!” Kyle said as he looked around.  “Everything’s white…!”

Jeremy frowned.  “Yeah?  So?”

Even though it was cold, Jeremy felt himself start to sweat and his palms grew clammy as the other boy’s eyes grew glassy.  “I...there’s no road!  I don’t think I can find my…”

“ _Oh no…!”_ Jeremy thought to himself as he felt a sense of dread overcome him.  “ _Don’t…!”_

Just as Jeremy feared, Kyle suddenly burst out into tears.  One of the boy’s small gloved hands went up to his eyes.

“I don’t think I can find my house from here!” Kyle wailed.  “I’m lost!”

Jeremy’s eyes rounded to the size of golf balls.  He quickly scanned their surroundings to make sure no one was watching before quickly marching up to the boy and holding out his hand.  Kyle was still busy crying, so he didn’t notice right away.  Jeremy frowned and waggled his hand in front of Kyle’s face.

“Come on!  Hurry up!  Take it,” said Jeremy.

Kyle hiccuped and wiped the tears from his face to see what it was Jeremy was holding out in front of him.  Once he realized what it was, he took Jeremy’s hand and allowed the dark-haired boy to pull him up into a standing position.  Thoroughly embarrassed, Jeremy buried the lower part of his face into his scarf and pulled a still sniveling Kyle behind him as they walked briskly towards his house.  Kyle was still crying even as they climbed up Jeremy’s front porch.  Jeremy’s mother was the one to greet the two boys when her son pounded on the front door.

“Now, _Jeremy_ ,” his mother said in a scolding tone.  “What have I told you about— _oh_.”

The frown on his mother’s face transformed into a look of surprise as she noticed the still-crying child that her son was holding hands with.  Jeremy’s face was still half-buried in his scarf and the hand that wasn’t holding Kyle’s was stuffed in one of his jacket pockets.  

“Everything all right, Lisa?” Jeremy’s father said, coming to the doorway from another room in the house.

“Yes, everything’s fine,” Jeremy’s mother replied as she looked back down at her son.  “Jeremy, who’s this?”

Her son’s voice was slightly muffled by his scarf.  He lifted up the hand that was holding Kyle’s, raising the other boy’s arm up towards the sky in the process.  Kyle was still covering his eyes with the back of his other hand as he continued bawling.

“He won’t stop,” said Jeremy.  “I can’t figure out how to turn him off.  Can you help me please?”

His parents exchanged an amused glance and held back laughter.  Jeremy’s mother nodded.

“Yeah, sure.  Why don’t you both come on in?  I’ll make you boys some hot chocolate,” Lisa said as she stepped away from the door.

Jeremy sighed and dropped his arm.  He tugged on Kyle’s hand as he led the other boy inside.

“Come on...” Jeremy said, rolling his eyes.  “Watch your step.”

He led the sobbing child into the kitchen of his house and nudged Kyle into the seat that was usually reserved for him since it was shorter than all the others.  He tried to get the other boy to let go of his hand, but Kyle refused to release his hold.  Eventually, Jeremy resigned himself to just standing beside his fellow classmate, waiting until his mother brought over the toasty drinks.

Lisa smiled as she placed the two small cups of hot chocolate onto the dining table.  Jeremy couldn’t tell if it whether Kyle was finally getting tuckered out from his crying or if the promise of chocolate was what got the other boy to simmer down at last.  Regardless, Jeremy was admittedly relieved when the other boy quieted and was able to let go of his hand.  The minute he did, Jeremy shook his hand out and flexed it.

“ _Geez_.  About time, crybaby,” Jeremy said, glaring at Kyle.

“Jeremy!” his mother chided him.

“What?” asked Jeremy.  “It’s _his_ fault!  No one told him to follow me around like a dummy!”

“Hey!  No name calling,” Lisa said, shaking her head in disapproval before turning her attention to Kyle.  “What’s your name, sweetie?”

“It’s Kyle,” Jeremy grumbled.

Lisa held up a finger to her son.  “Now, Jeremy...he’s a big boy.  Let him speak for himself.”

She looked back at the younger boy who took in a few deep breaths and nodded.  “H-he’s right.  M-my name is K-Kyle.  Kyle Hunter.”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Kyle,” said Lisa.  “Are you friends with our son here?”

Kyle blushed slightly as he looked between Jeremy and his mother.  “U-um...I...I’m…”

Jeremy sighed.  “He’s just some new kid in our class, mom.  He follows me _everywhere_.”

His mother shook her head.  “Be nice, Jeremy.”

“I...I got lost,” Kyle quickly added, as if that explained everything.

“Oh!  Okay!  That’s no problem,” said Lisa.  “Jeremy’s father and I can help you with that.  Do you know where you live?”

“U-uh...I live with my grammy and grampy somewhere close," said Kyle.

"He just moved here last week, Mom," Jeremy said with a sigh.  "I don't think he even knows the name of his street."

"Oh dear.  Let me talk to your father," said Lisa.  "Now you be nice to Kyle, okay, Jeremy?  He's our guest."

"Yeah, yeah.  I know," Jeremy mumbled.  "I'll be good."

"Be right back," his mother said with a smile.

She was gone for only a few minutes, but to the two boys it seemed like an eternity.  Kyle spoke up after a couple moments of silence.

"Um...your house is nice."

Jeremy raised both his eyebrows.  "Oh!  Uh...thanks."

He fidgeted next to Kyle and the other boy scooted over in his seat.  Kyle patted at the small space beside him.

"Here!  Wanna sit?"

Jeremy's face turned a slight pink.  "No, it's okay.  I can stand."

"It's fine!" said Kyle.  "There's plenty of room!"

"Mm...okay...I guess..." Jeremy said as he somewhat reluctantly sidled in next to the other boy; if he could have thought of an excuse not to, he would have used it.

Kyle grinned.  "See?  It's not so bad!"

"Ah...uh-huh.  Yeah..." said Jeremy.

Kyle tilted his head.  "You got any brothers or sisters?"

Jeremy grimaced and wondered when his mother would come back to save him.  "Uh...nope. Just me."

His response seemed to make Kyle very happy.  "Really?  Me too!  I'm the only one!  Maybe we can be brothers!"

Jeremy was very glad this boy _wasn't_ his brother.  He forced a smile.

"Or maybe we can just be by ourselves," he said.  

"Aw...but that's no fun!" said Kyle.

The brunette was momentarily distracted by a beeping sound from his pocket.  He pulled out from his pocket a small electronic device hanging from a keychain.  As much as Jeremy wanted to pretend he wasn't interested, he couldn't help but to look over Kyle's shoulder curiously.

"What's that?" Jeremy asked.

"Oh this?  It's a Digi Pet!" Kyle said with a smile as he held up the device for Jeremy to see. "Want to play with it?"

Jeremy tilted his head to the side.  "Nah it's okay...what do you do?"

"Well, you just shake it...and uh...if you press these buttons you can feed it..." said Kyle.

"Why did it beep?" asked Jeremy.

"Oh!  That's because he found something," said Kyle.

Jeremy raised an eyebrow.  "They find things?"

"Yeah!" Kyle said, nodding enthusiastically.  "Like treasure!"

"It just finds stuff by itself?" asked Jeremy.

" _Well_...you do have to walk with it first," said Kyle.

Jeremy scrunched his nose.  "That sounds annoying."

Kyle laughed and shook his head.  "It's not!  It's a lot of fun!"

"Mm...I guess," said Jeremy.

He watched Kyle play with the device for a little while before clearing his throat.  Kyle looked up at him curiously.  Jeremy's face turned slightly pink.

"Um...want to see the toys I got?" Jeremy asked.

"Sure!" Kyle said, brightening.

He slipped the device back into his pocket.  Jeremy got up from the chair and Kyle followed suit.

"Come on!  My stuff's upstairs."

"Okay!"

The two scurried up the stairs to Jeremy's room.  Kyle's eyes grew wide as he saw the dark-haired boy's seemingly vast assortment of toys.  

"Whoa..." said Kyle.  "You have so many!"

Jeremy couldn't help puffing out his chest with pride.  "Yup!  How many have you got?"

"Just my Digi Pet," Kyle said with an embarrassed smile.

"Oh..." Jeremy said as he blushed, feeling a bit ashamed for bragging.  "That's okay...want to play with mine?"

Kyle nodded enthusiastically.  "Yeah!"

"Okay," Jeremy said as he led Kyle to a pile of action figures in one corner.

He held one up and handed it to Kyle.  It was a figure of a superhero with a cape.

"This one's Captain Solar!" Jeremy said with a huge smile.  "He's my favorite!"

"Cool!" Kyle said as he took the figure from Jeremy.  "What's he do?"

Jeremy shook his head.  "He doesn't do anything!  You have to use your ima-gee-nayshun!"

Kyle tilted his head to the side.  "Ima-gee what?  What's that?"  

"Dad says it's when you pretend the toys are real!" Jeremy said with a smile.  "Here!  Let me show you."

He picked up two other toys from the pile and showed them to Kyle.  Jeremy held the one painted mostly black first.

"This guy is Dragostar!  He's a bad guy," Jeremy said before holding up the one dressed in mostly white.  "And _this_ one's a good guy.  Metalcrusher!"

Jeremy then smacked the two figures together.  Kyle giggled as Jeremy made an accompanying noise that was supposed to sound like an explosion.

"Gragh!  You won't get away with this, Metalcrusher!" Jeremy growled.

Kyle laughed.  Jeremy smiled and motioned to the toy in the other boy's hand.

"Okay!  Now you!" said Jeremy.

Kyle shook his head, confused. "Huh?"

Jeremy chuckled and waved one of the action figures around.  This time he spoke in a slightly different tone.

"Metalcrusher requesting back-up!" said Jeremy.  "Captain Solar!  Do you copy?"

Kyle perked up immediately.  If there was anything he loved, it was pretending he was in the military, like his parents.

"I hear you, loud and clear, um..." Kyle trailed off and bit his lower lip.  

"Metalcrusher," Jeremy whispered with a smile.

"Oh!  Oh, yeah!  Right!" said Kyle.  "I hear you loud and clear, Metalcrusher!"

"Well, hurry up!" said Jeremy.  "Evil Dragostar is about to destroy the world!"

Kyle gasped.  "Oh no!  We've got to stop him!"

Jeremy nodded and gave the boy a determined look. "Yeah!  We've got to!"

"Don't worry!" said Kyle.  "I'll come save you!"

Jeremy almost broke script to tell Kyle that his protagonist didn't need saving, just assistance, but he was honestly having too much fun to care so he ended up not bothering.  The two carried on for the next half hour.  Neither boy noticed when Jeremy's parents happened to peek in on their playtime—after they had found out where Kyle lived, they had wondered where the two boys had disappeared to since they were no longer in the kitchen, and they had followed the noise up to Jeremy's room.  Charlie and Lisa left the boys alone for a while longer before eventually interrupting their game so that they could take Kyle home.

Just before Kyle left in his father's truck, Jeremy came running out of the house with his favorite action figure in tow.  He handed the toy to Kyle, who looked at him with big, round eyes.

"Here, I want you to have it," Jeremy said, resolute.

Kyle let out a small gasp.  "But I can't!  You said it's your favorite!"

"Mm...it's okay," Jeremy said, a small blush forming on his face.  "I have lots of other ones...you said you don't have any, right?"

Kyle nodded.  "Yeah..."

"So take this one," said Jeremy.  "Just bring him back to visit sometimes, okay?"

Kyle beamed and accepted the toy gratefully.  "Okay!  I will!  Thank you!  I'll take good care of it!"

Jeremy nodded.  "Yeah.  I know you will."

His father smiled before bending down so that he could lift Kyle up and load the boy into his car.  After doing so, he knelt down to his son's level and ruffled Jeremy's black hair.

"That was a mighty nice thing you did for that boy there," said Charlie.  "I'm proud of you, son."

He chuckled softly when Jeremy stood up a bit straighter.  "Aw, it was nothing, Dad...!"

Charlie nodded.  "Still...I'm really impressed with you, kid."

"Thanks, Dad!" Jeremy said with a smile.  "Drive safe!"

His father gave his forehead a quick peck.  "I will.  Love you, son."

"Love you too, Dad!"

Jeremy watched his father drive away from his front porch, alongside his mother.  He could see Kyle's hand waving from the back seat, and Jeremy waved back.  He pressed his head against his mother's thigh when she placed a hand on one side of his face, gently drawing him in.

"So, think you two have become friends?" his mother asked.

"Mm...he's all right, I guess..!" Jeremy said quickly before slipping out of his mother's grasp and scrambling back into their house, causing his mother to chuckle.

The following day, Kyle brought Jeremy's favorite action figure to school.  The kids all oohed and ahhed over the toy, but Kyle refused to let anyone near it other than Jeremy.  This, however, was misinterpreted by some of the kids as unjustified favoritism since they didn't have all of the context, which in turn caused some problems later on for Kyle.

Jeremy knew something was wrong after he came back from the bathroom in the middle of recess and Kyle was nowhere to be found.  The dark-haired boy wondered where the brunette was until he heard a bunch of shouting coming from the direction of the wooded area nearby the playground.  He wasn’t even sure if that’s where Kyle was, but something told Jeremy to run, so he did.  He rushed quickly towards the cluster of trees.

As he got closer, Jeremy started to hear voices, and soon he saw a group of five boys circled around someone.  Jeremy’s eyes narrowed when he saw it was Kyle in the middle and on the ground, clutching onto something for dear life.  The boys were all kicking at Kyle and the object he was holding.  Angry, Jeremy lunged at the group.

“Hey!” he shouted.  “Get off him!  Leave him alone!”

One of the boys yelped when Jeremy tackled him down, and soon all the attention was on the dark-haired boy.  Jeremy put up a good fight, however, and he had managed to either draw blood or leave bite marks on a few of the other kids.  Several teachers eventually came around to break up the fight, and Jeremy fought out of the grasp of one instructor so he could rush over to Kyle, who was crying his eyes out.  

A bruise was starting to form under one of Jeremy’s eyes and he had a cut lip.  He sat down beside Kyle and patted the boy on the back.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Jeremy said softly.  “It’s all right…!”

“N-no it’s n-not…!” Kyle blubbered, taking sharp intakes of breath.  “T-they broke it…!”

Jeremy frowned.  “Broke what?  What is it?”

Kyle held one hand up to his eyes as he continued to cry.  He used his free hand to point in the general direction of an action figure on the ground that had been smashed to smithereens.  

“T-the toy y-you gave m-me,” Kyle wailed.  “I’m s-sorry…!”

Jeremy observed the destroyed object more closely and sure enough, he was able to confirm that the pile of parts once made up his beloved Captain Solar.  Jeremy did feel a bit of sadness well up within him, but he quickly pushed that to the back of his mind—he could mourn the loss of his former toy later.  He shook his head and continued to pat Kyle on the back.

“It’s okay, Kyle,” Jeremy said softly.  “It’s just a toy…”

His eyes widened in confusion as this only caused the other boy to wail even louder.  “B-b-but y-you gave i-it to m-m-me and I d-didn’t take c-care of it…!”

Jeremy kept patting the other boy on the back with mild exasperation.  “What do you mean?  I saw you…!  You tried to save him!”

Kyle surprised him when he threw his arms around Jeremy.  “Y-yeah…!  I t-tried…!”

“Y-yeah…” Jeremy said somewhat awkwardly.  “Uh...you did real good, Kyle.  It’s okay…!”

“Alright, boys.  I’m going to need you both to get up for me now,” a teacher said, hovering over Jeremy and Kyle.  “It’s off to the office with you both.”

Jeremy placed his body in front of Kyle’s.  “It wasn’t his fault!  They started it!  You can’t get him in trouble!”

“It doesn’t matter whose fault it was,” the teacher said calmly.  “You boys still shouldn’t be fighting.  Come on.  Let’s see if we can get all this sorted out…”

“All right.  Fine!” Jeremy said with a scowl before taking one of Kyle’s hands and helping lift the other boy up.  “Come on, Kyle...let’s go.”

“O-okay…” Kyle sniffed.

They began to follow the teacher.  Jeremy pulled Kyle closer to him and whispered in his ear.

“Don’t worry...I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said.  “I’ll make sure those boys get in trouble.”

“W-what about you?” Kyle asked.  “I-I don’t want you in trouble e-either…!”

Jeremy smiled.  “Aw, don’t worry about me!  I’ll be okay!”

Kyle smiled shyly back.  “Okay…”

After the situation was fully explained, Jeremy and Kyle were sent home with warning slips.  Jeremy took Kyle’s from his hand and crumpled it up while they were waiting for his father to pick them both up from school.  The school had called his father to inform him of what had happened and he had offered to pick both of the boys up.  Kyle looked at Jeremy curiously when the dark-haired boy crumpled the paper.

“Your mom and dad aren’t here,” Jeremy said by way of explanation.  “You don’t need to tell your grammy and grampy you got in trouble.  You didn’t do anything bad.”

Kyle tilted his head to the side.  “What about you?”

Jeremy shrugged.  “I’m not scared.  I can explain what happened to my dad.”

Kyle looked down at his feet.  “But what if he gets mad…?”

“He won’t,” said Jeremy.  “You believe me, right?”

Kyle smiled and nodded at him.  “Yeah...I believe you.”

“Good,” said Jeremy.

He held his friend’s hand as they stood patiently, waiting for his father at the front of the school.  After his father came to pick them up, the two boys sat quietly next to each other in the back seats of the van.  

“So, mind explaining to me what happened today at school, son?” Jeremy’s father asked, his eyes flitting to the rear view mirror to look at the boys.

Kyle held his breath.  Jeremy straightened his posture and made eye contact with his father.

“These boys were kicking Kyle around,” said Jeremy.  “I went to stop them.”

“I see…” said his father.  “You did good, son.”

“I did?” asked Jeremy.

His father nodded.  “Yes...you did...but next time, try not to handle things all by yourself, okay?”

Jeremy nodded.  “Okay, Dad...I’ll get a teacher next time.”

“Good,” his father said with a smile.  “As long as you understand.”

They pulled in front of Kyle’s grandparent’s house.  Jeremy’s father placed the car in park.

“Alright, Kyle!  Time to get you home,” said Jeremy’s father.

Jeremy helped Kyle unbuckle from his seat.  “See you at school, Kyle.”

The other boy gave Jeremy a big smile.  “Yeah!  See you tomorrow!”

Kyle opened his arms and allowed Jeremy’s father to lift him up.  Charlie Daniels set the boy down and walked with him to the front door of the house.  Jeremy craned his neck and watched from the open van door.  He smiled and waved when Kyle turned to say goodbye to him from his front porch.

The next day, the boys resumed their usual routine of riding the bus home from school.  Jeremy waited until they got off at their stop before taking Kyle’s hand.  The brunette looked at him curiously.

“Come on!  I’ll walk you home,” said Jeremy.

Kyle smiled and took the other boy’s hand.  “Won’t you get lost?”

Jeremy scrunched his nose and shook his head.  “No!  What do you think, I’m you?”

Kyle laughed.  “No!  Okay…!  Let’s go!”

Jeremy nodded and the two set off for Kyle’s home.  When they reached the front porch, Jeremy let go of his friend’s hand and set his backpack onto the ground.  Kyle looked at his friend questioningly as Jeremy unzipped his pack and rummaged through it.  The dark-haired boy smiled as he pulled out a small package and thrust it in Kyle’s face.

“Here!” he said with a grin.  “For you!”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he accepted the box.  “F-for me…?”

“Yeah!” Jeremy said with a nod.  “I went to the store and got it with my daddy yesterday!  It’s Onixtron!  Special edition!”

“Whoa…!” Kyle said, his eyes big and round.  “Thanks, Jeremy…!”

“Yeah, no problem!” Jeremy said with a smile as he zipped up his backpack and slung it back over his shoulders.  “Take good care of it, okay?”

Kyle nodded, still looking dumbfounded.  “Yeah...I will!”

Jeremy rubbed at the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly.  “Maybe you should keep it at home this time, though…”

Kyle smiled.  “Yeah…!  I know just where to put it, too!”

Jeremy smiled back.  “Okay...well...see you tomorrow, then?”

“Aw...okay,” said Kyle.  “See you tomorrow.”

He waved and watched Jeremy leave until the boy disappeared from his view.  Then, Kyle ran inside his house and thundered up the stairs with boundless energy.  

“Kyle?” his grandmother called up to him.  “That you?”

“Yeah!  I’m home, Grammy!” Kyle shouted from the top of the steps.

“You ready for dinner?” his grandmother asked.

“Yeah!  Okay!  Let me get changed first!” said Kyle.

“Okay,” said his grandmother.  “Come down when you’re ready.”

“I will!” Kyle said before bursting into his bedroom.

He tossed his backpack to the side and flopped onto his bed with the action figure Jeremy had given him.  He quickly opened up the box and pulled out the toy. 

“Wow…” he said softly to himself as he fingered the figurine.  “So cool…!”

He laughed before hopping off of his bed and ran around his room with his new toy, making fighter jet-type noises as he did so.  Finally, he bounced back onto his bed and landed on his backside, holding the figure up high in the air.  He smiled at it before hugging the toy to his chest.  He couldn’t wait to see his best friend at school again.


	2. Reluctance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was excited to see how many kudos I've received on this fic. Sure it's not as many as what's on my other fics, but for a story that's OC-centric, I think it's a huge accomplishment. Thank you, anonymous supporters!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter as well! I'll try to include more Yancy and Raleigh every chance I get! In a rush right now, so I'll just post the chapter for now and update this author's note later.

There were times when Jeremy didn’t know what to make of Kyle’s smile.  From his experience, nine times out of ten, Kyle’s smile meant trouble was on the horizon for Jeremy.  He didn’t know how he let the other boy have such a hold over him, but Kyle’s smile had gotten Jeremy to do things he normally wouldn’t have ever felt moved to do on his own.

Like doing his homework, for example.  For as long as Jeremy could remember, he hated going to school.  Somewhere along the line, Kyle became his main reason for wanting to go at all.  One of the biggest things he dreaded about going to class was the homework teachers sent home with them after the day was over.  Had Kyle not been in his life, Jeremy probably would have grown up to be a delinquent, always skipping class and playing around outside instead of working on his assignments.  Until Kyle, Jeremy genuinely thought all kids their age felt the same he did.  Much to his surprise though, Kyle happened to enjoy studying.  More than that, he liked the idea of studying with Jeremy.  So of course Jeremy had to take to the idea too, if he didn’t want the likelihood of Kyle’s tears to weigh down heavily on his conscience.

For the most part, whether or not Jeremy chose to acknowledge it, Kyle’s smile kept him in line because Jeremy would do anything to protect it.  Even though over the course of their friendship they discovered that Jeremy was the younger one in age by several months—Kyle was born in January while Jeremy’s birthday was in July—the dark-haired boy still felt responsible for playing the watchful role.

That wasn’t to say that Kyle didn’t benefit from Jeremy’s presence either.  On the contrary, it was thanks to Jeremy that Kyle was able to make the friends he wanted so easily.  For some reason, the dark-haired boy’s presence gave Kyle the additional confidence he needed to approach others, even if Jeremy didn’t share in his pursuits.  The younger boy was just happy to hang back and watch his friend, though he was always ready to intervene if the need ever arose, not that it ever did.  The other kids seemed to sense that Jeremy came with Kyle as a package deal, and that messing with Kyle was the same as messing with Jeremy directly.  The dark-haired boy was well-known for putting up a good fight in addition to his quick temper—most kids were wise enough to be wary of him.

In general, Jeremy cared nothing for the friends Kyle made.  As long as Kyle was happy, that was all that mattered, and though it was never said aloud, Jeremy knew he was Kyle’s favorite.  So long as Jeremy didn’t have to compete for the older boy’s affections, he was content to watch Kyle go about his business.  That all changed though one day, when Kyle decided he wanted to become best friends with another boy named Yancy Becket.

Jeremy didn't know whether to scowl at Kyle or the blonde boy he had brought along with him.  In his mind, Kyle knew better than to bring one of his friends within six-feet of the dark-haired boy, so of course he wasn’t thrilled that this new friend of Kyle’s was very much in his personal bubble.  As much as Jeremy wanted to tell the blue-eyed boy to buzz off, Kyle was giving him that look of expectancy that the dark-haired boy could never seem to deny, so he held his tongue and waited for his best friend to speak first.

He felt one of his eyes twitch when Kyle took the new kid by the wrist and held it up.   Jeremy wasn’t sure he liked how familiar Kyle was already being with the blonde, and he also didn’t like that the blue-eyed boy didn’t seem to mind too much.  In fact, Jeremy was almost sure he saw a mischievous glint in the other boy’s eyes, like he knew he was causing Jeremy some discomfort.  Jeremy decided he didn’t like the boy’s attitude.

“Jeremy?  This is Yancy,” said Kyle.  “He just taught me how to eat honeysuckles.  They’re pretty good!”

“Are they?” Jeremy asked before giving the boy named Yancy a curt nod.  “Nice to meet you…”

The blonde half-smiled at him.  “You sure about that?”

Jeremy frowned.  He didn’t like this kid one bit.  

Completely oblivious, Kyle smiled at Yancy and motioned towards Jeremy.  “And Yancy?  This is my friend, Jeremy!”

“ _Best_ friend,” Jeremy tightly emphasized.

Yancy cocked his head to one side, his eyes twinkling with devilish amusement.  “That a fact?”

“Uh-huh!” Kyle confirmed brightly before Jeremy could say anything.  “Since kindergarten!”

Jeremy bristled slightly when Yancy smirked.  “Wow.  That’s a long time.”

“Yup!” Kyle said, beaming.

Jeremy’s posture relaxed a little only when Kyle finally let go of Yancy’s wrist and moved closer to the dark-haired boy’s side.  Jeremy resisted the urge to pull Kyle behind him and tell the new boy not to get any bright ideas about intruding his and Kyle’s duo dynamic.

The dark-haired boy spoke to Kyle in a low voice while keeping his eyes on Yancy.  “Can I talk to you for a minute, Kyle…?”

His friend looked at him curiously.  “Huh?  Yeah, sure!  What is it?”

“In _private_ , please…?” Jeremy asked through gritted teeth, tugging gently on Kyle’s sleeve.

The brunette was still smiling, but he looked confused at the same time.  “Um...yeah!  Sure…!”

“Well?  Come on,” Jeremy said as he started to walk away.

Kyle flashed Yancy a look of apology.  “Sorry, Yancy…!  We’ll be right back…!  I think…”

Yancy smiled and shook his head.  “Don’t worry about it.  I’ve got to go look for my little brother anyway...I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah!” Kyle said, nodding enthusiastically.  “I didn’t know you had a brother!”

Yancy grinned.  “I do, and he’s the best little brother ever!”

“Cool!” said Kyle.  “I’d like to meet him sometime.”

“Yeah,” Yancy said with a nod.  “I’ll introduce you later.”

“Sounds good!” said Kyle.  “See you later!”

Jeremy glared at Yancy who seemed completely unfazed by the dark-haired boy’s aura of disapproval.  Jeremy didn’t like the look of amusement that the blonde gave him before he left the two of them alone.

“Now what’s all that about?” Jeremy asked his friend as soon as Yancy was out of earshot.

“What?  You don’t like him?” asked Kyle.  “I was hoping we could all be friends…”

Jeremy frowned.  “Look...I don’t care about who you like or don’t like, so long as they don’t bother me.  What I don’t get is why you want me to be his friend too.  You’ve never done that with any of the other people you made friends with.”

“Well, yeah…” Kyle admitted sheepishly with a small shrug.  “But I don’t know…!  He seems different!  He’s kind of like you in some ways.  I thought maybe you two would get along.”

“Yeah?  Well you thought wrong,” Jeremy said stubbornly.

Kyle laughed.  “Aw, c’mon, Jeremy!  I don’t think he’s so bad…!  Give him a chance!  Besides, you didn’t like me either in the beginning.”

“Well, I like you now,” said Jeremy.  “I’ve liked you for a long time, actually.”

Kyle flushed a light pink and smiled at his friend shyly.  “See?  That took time though, right?  I’m sure it will be the same with him, too!”

“I still don’t understand why you want me to be friends with him too,” Jeremy said with a frown.  

“Mm...I thought it might be more fun that way,” Kyle said with a shrug.  “So it’s not always just us two.”

Jeremy’s expression darkened.  “What do you mean?  Are you trying to say our friendship is boring?”

“What?  No!” Kyle said, eyes widening as Jeremy started to stomp away from him.  “Wait!  Jeremy!  Where are you going?”

“Away,” Jeremy said, somewhat angrily.  “From you.”

“Why?  Hold on!” Kyle said as he scrambled to keep up with his friend.  “Did I make you mad?  Don’t be upset, Jeremy!  I didn’t mean it like that, honest!”

When the dark-haired boy continued to ignore him Kyle decided the next best course of action was to tackle his friend down from behind.  Both boys fell with a dull thud onto the grass, and Jeremy shot an irritated look back Kyle, who was hugging his arms around the younger boys legs.  

Jeremy tried to shake his legs out of his friend’s grasp.  “Get off me, Kyle.”

“No!  Not until you stop being mad at me,” said Kyle.

Jeremy frowned.  “That’s a stupid idea.”

“Well?  What else can I do?” asked Kyle.

Jeremy sighed and turned back around, staring angrily at the patch of grass before him.  The two remained like that for a few moments in silence, sprawled out on the ground.  After a few moments passed, Jeremy started picking at pieces of grass.  He was pretty sure Kyle was using his calves as a pillow at that point.  After a while, the school bell rang, signaling the end of recess.

When Kyle still didn’t move, Jeremy grumbled at his friend.  “The bell rang, Kyle…”

His friend’s voice was muffled against the fabric of his pants.  “Are you still mad at me…?”

“I don’t know,” Jeremy said, still frowning as he continued to pick away at blades of grass.  “Maybe…”

“Then I don’t care,” Kyle said as he squeezed his arms a little tighter around Jeremy’s legs.  “I’m not moving.”

The dark-haired boy sighed and rested his forehead against one of his arms.  “We’re going to get in trouble if we don’t go inside.”

Kyle’s voice wavered.  “But…!”

Jeremy half-smiled.  If there was one thing he knew for sure about Kyle, it was the boy’s fear of getting in trouble with authority.  Jeremy figured that had something to do with Kyle’s parents being in the military.  He lifted his head and sighed before looking back at Kyle over his shoulder.

“Okay, Kyle...come on, let’s go,” said Jeremy.  “I’m not mad anymore.”

He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing when Kyle looked up at him with round eyes.  “You promise…?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy said with a nod.  “We’re okay.”

“Okay!” Kyle said with a huge smile as he released Jeremy from his hold and bounced up on his feet.

He held out a hand for Jeremy and the dark-haired boy took it.  The two dusted themselves off before heading back towards the school.  

Kyle made a second attempt to bring his friends together about a week later.  That’s when Jeremy realized Kyle was serious about making Yancy a regular part of their lives, because Jeremy was the only one who wasn’t aware that the blonde and his younger brother had been invited for a sleepover at Kyle’s grandparent’s house.  

He knew Kyle felt at least a little guilty for conveniently forgetting to mention the additional guests because the brunette wouldn’t meet Jeremy’s eyes at first for the first half of their little get-together.  Once Kyle sensed that Jeremy wasn’t going to kill him, at least not on the spot, he was able to act more normally around his best friend.

Throughout the course of the evening, Jeremy noted with mild interest that Yancy was a completely different person outside of school.  After observing the other boy quietly for some time, Jeremy concluded that the blonde’s younger brother was the main reason for the change in Yancy’s personality.  The boy’s younger sibling seemed to be the center of the blonde’s universe; in comparison, Yancy paid very little mind to Kyle.  As a result, Jeremy decided he didn’t mind Yancy so much anymore, now that the perceived threat to his and Kyle’s friendship appeared to be nonexistent.  With that concern addressed and out of the way, Jeremy was able to more readily take initiative in coming to a truce with Yancy for Kyle’s sake.  

Jeremy waited for the right moment to have a one-on-one conversation with the blonde boy.  The opportunity came when Yancy allowed Kyle to take his brother into the kitchen to get some orange juice while Yancy waited with Jeremy on the couch.  Even without having known the other boy for a long time, Jeremy somehow sensed that Yancy didn’t typically let his younger brother out of his sight.

“So...you really like your brother a lot, huh?” Jeremy asked, trying to start the conversation with as casual a tone as possible.

Which was why he felt confused when Yancy’s posture and expression seemed to tighten a bit.  The blonde also gave Jeremy a scrutinizing look, making the dark-haired boy wonder what Yancy was looking for.  Apparently though, whatever it was, Yancy seemed to have found it because his overall demeanor became more relaxed when he answered Jeremy’s question.

“Yeah...he’s a good kid,” said Yancy.  “...you and Kyle seem close.”

For a split second Jeremy wondered if the other boy was trying to challenge him in some way, but then he pushed the thought to the back of his mind because the idea seemed ridiculous.  He half-smiled at the blonde.

“Eh, he grows on you,” Jeremy said with a slight shrug.

Yancy laughed.  “You got that right...and he’s really good with Raleigh.”

Jeremy tilted his head.  “Is your brother difficult?”

Yancy scrunched his nose.  “No, not at all.”

“Oh,” said Jeremy.  “Then why did you say that?”

Yancy shrugged.  “Well most people try to pick on him and stuff.”

“Hm...maybe that’s why he and Kyle get along,” said Jeremy.  “Kyle used to get bullied a lot too.”

Yancy eyed Jeremy carefully.  “...then he met you?”

The dark-haired boy didn’t know why he blushed at that.  “Y-yeah...I guess that’s what it was.”

Yancy nodded.  “I get it.”

Jeremy’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.  “You do…?”

The two of them appeared to have reached some sort of understanding, but Jeremy felt like he had missed something huge.  He didn’t have long to think about it though, because soon Raleigh bounded back into the room with Kyle, and the four boys became distracted with the tray of cookies Kyle had brought back with him, courtesy of his grandmother.

It took a little time for them to adjust, but after several weeks, Jeremy and Yancy seemed to have come to some sort of silent agreement to tolerate each other for Kyle and Raleigh’s sake, as the pair seemed to be getting along together rather well.  The relationship between Jeremy and Yancy was one of tolerance and nothing more until one day, when the four boys decided to venture off on a nature hike.

They had thought it was a good idea to cross rushing water by hopping rocks.  In the heat of the moment, all of the boys had forgotten about the importance of safety, which was why none of them were prepared when Raleigh lost his footing and fell into the rushing water.  Jeremy reacted before Yancy had a chance to—the blonde was initially frozen with horror.  

The dark-haired boy dove into the water after Raleigh without a second thought.  The water was really not that fast for an adult, but lightweight kids like them could move quickly through it.  The younger boy submerged and resurfaced several times, flailing around in panic.  While trying to reach him, Jeremy yelled for the boy to grab onto anything he could find.  Meanwhile, Kyle and Yancy had gotten themselves to shore and followed the two boys in the water by running alongside them on land.  

At some point, Raleigh ran into a large rock and hugged it.  Jeremy spotted him and angled himself straight for the rock.  He let out a scream of pain when he rammed right into the ample-sized boulder, as his shin hit something sharp.  He tried to ignore the pain by focusing on the crying boy next to him.  Slowly and carefully, Jeremy slid closed to Raleigh.

“Do you think you can hold onto my back?” Jeremy asked.  

“I...I think s-so…!” Raleigh blubbered.

“Okay,” Jeremy said as calmly as he could.  “Then try.  Here.  Grab my arm and pull yourself on.”

The dark-haired boy kept his hold onto the boulder and slowly lifted his right arm.  Raleigh mimicked Jeremy’s earlier movement and shimmied closer to the older boy before daring to reach out for Jeremy’s arm.  The older boy groaned when Raleigh did because his muscles were tired; he was also starting to feel a little dizzy from the pain in his leg.

“Good...you’re doing real good,” Jeremy said as Raleigh wrapped his arms around the older boy’s shoulders.  

Jeremy turned his head in the direction of Kyle and Yancy’s shouting and tried to calculate how he was going to get himself and Raleigh over.  He decided his best bet was to get to the other side by taking the risk of letting the current pull him and Raleigh towards a log with a bit of branch sticking out of it.  If he could grab the branch, Jeremy thought, then Yancy and Kyle could climb aboard the log and pull the two of them up.

He turned his head slightly over his shoulder.  “Raleigh!  We’re going to float a little bit, okay?”

Jeremy felt the younger boy shake his head furiously.  “No…!  No!  Jeremy, I’m scared!”

The dark-haired boy bit the inside of his cheek.  “Yeah...yeah, I know, but just trust me, okay?  We’re going to go for that log over there.”

He lifted his hand only for a split second to point at the log he was talking about before grabbing the rock again.  “Okay?”

"Y-yeah...okay,” said Raleigh.

“Good,” said Jeremy.  “Now hang on.”

Raleigh screamed in terror when Jeremy let go of the rock.  Jeremy placed all his focus on getting to the log he was aiming for while doing his best to ignore the throbbing in his leg and the fact that Raleigh was hurting his eardrums.  He was overcome with great relief when he managed to latch onto the branch he had hoped to grab and within seconds, it seemed, Kyle and Yancy were there, ready to lift the boys up to safety.  

“Jeremy!  Raleigh!  We’re here!  Hang on!” said Kyle.

“Get him first!” Jeremy said to the boys, tilting his head slightly towards Raleigh.  “I can hang on.”

“Yeah, alright!” Kyle said as he reached out for the younger boy.  “Come on, Raleigh!”

“Take our hands, Rals!” Yancy said as he also held out a hand for his brother.

Raleigh lifted up a hand and grabbed his brother’s first before releasing Jeremy completely and grabbing Kyle’s hand with his other one.  The two boys groaned as they pulled the younger boy up to safety.  Once Raleigh was safe on the log, Kyle turned back and held his hand out to Jeremy immediately.

“Okay!  Now you!” said Kyle.  “Come on!”

“No!” Jeremy said, shaking his head.  “Take his little brother off the log first.”

Kyle frowned.  “Are you sure?”

“Yeah…” Jeremy said tiredly.  “Just go and come back.  I’ll be okay, don’t worry.”

“But…!”

Jeremy sighed and glared at Yancy.  “Will you get him to land already?  It’s going to be no good if one of us falls in again.”

The blonde nodded.  “Come on, Raleigh...let’s go.”

The younger boy had latched onto the log with his whole body.  “I’m too scared to stand!”

“That’s okay…” Yancy said as soothingly as possible.  “We can crawl.  Can you do that?  Crawl?”

Raleigh bit his lip and nodded.  “Y-yeah...I think I can do that.”

“Good,” said Yancy.  “Then let’s crawl.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll wait here with Jeremy!” said Kyle.

“All right,” said Yancy.  “I’ll be right back after I get him to the other side.”

Kyle peered over the log at his friend worriedly.  “Maybe I should try to pull you up now?”

The dark-haired boy looked up and glared at his friend.  “Are you stupid?  I might be too heavy and you might fall in.  Then we’ll have an even bigger problem.  Just wait.”

“But aren’t you tired?” asked Kyle.

Jeremy groaned and replied through gritted teeth.  “What do _you_ think?”

Kyle turned his head towards Yancy’s direction.  “Yancy…!  Hurry up!”

“Yeah!  Hang on, I’m coming now!” Yancy said as he climbed back onto the log.

He made his way back to where Jeremy was and together with Kyle, the two of them helped pull the dark-haired boy onto the log.  Jeremy let out a huge sigh of relief once he was out of the water.

“Come on, Jeremy!” said Kyle.  “Let’s get out of here.”

“Hold on,” Jeremy said, worn out.  “I need a break.”

Yancy frowned.  “You can take a break when you get to the other side!”

“Yeah, c’mon, Jeremy!” said Kyle.  “Let’s go!”

The dark-haired boy sighed and lifted his head slightly.  “All right...okay...let’s go.”

He grimaced as he started to crawl.  Both Yancy and Kyle frowned.

“Jeremy, what’s wrong?” asked Yancy.  “Can’t you stand?”

Jeremy shook his head.  “I’m hurt.”

Kyle’s eyes widened when he noticed Jeremy was dragging his left side awkwardly.  “Jeremy…!  Your leg…!”

“I’m all right,” Jeremy said as he motioned a hand at Yancy, telling him to move ahead.  “Come on.  Let’s keep going.”

Yancy held out a hand.  “Here...maybe I can help you walk over.”

Jeremy scowled.  “That’s stupid!  I’m too heavy.  Just go already!  Come on!”

Yancy sighed, knowing the dark-haired boy was right.  “Okay...just go slow then.”

The three boys eventually made it to the other side.  Once Jeremy was safe on land, he turned over onto his back and gasped for breath.  Kyle and Yancy took the opportunity to drag their friend further away from the edge.  With everything catching up to him, Jeremy’s body began to go numb and his vision started to blur.  As he slowly slipped out of consciousness, he could barely hear what Yancy and Kyle were saying.

Kyle gasped.  “Look at his leg!  It really doesn’t look too good...”

“You wait here with him,” said Yancy.  “Raleigh and I will go get some help.”

“Yeah, okay,” said Kyle.  “Hurry back!”

“We will,” Yancy promised.  “Come on, Raleigh!  Let’s go!”

Jeremy’s eyes fluttered as he listened to Yancy and Raleigh’s footsteps fade.  Though hazy, Jeremy could see Kyle’s worried face hovering over his.

“Jeremy…!  Are you alright?” Kyle asked.

The dark-haired boy opened his mouth to respond, but he wasn’t sure if any sound ever came out of it.  The last thing Jeremy remembered before everything went black was the movement of Kyle’s lips as the older boy kept telling him to hold on, that help was coming.

When Jeremy woke up again, it was in a hospital.  He was greeted right away by his overjoyed parents and was discharged later that day.  He had been passed out for forty-eight hours.  Jeremy ended up missing a few days of school, and his parents finally allowed for his friends to visit him over the weekend.  Yancy hung back while Kyle embraced his best friend, incredibly happy to see him.

“Jeremy…!  You’re alive!” Kyle exclaimed.

The dark-haired boy half-smiled and pat his friend on the back.  “Yeah...it’ll take more than that to kill me, don’t worry.  You believe me, don’t you?”

Kyle nodded.  “Mmhmm!”

Jeremy then locked gazes with Yancy while still hugging Kyle.  The blonde shifted his weight uneasily on his feet before walking closer to the dark-haired boy.

“I just wanted to say thank you…” Yancy mumbled.  “For saving my brother.”

“Yeah...don’t mention it,” said Jeremy.

Yancy’s brows furrowed together.  “Mm...Raleigh wanted to come, but…”

Jeremy shook his head.  “Don’t worry about it.  Tell him I said hi.”

Yancy nodded.  “I will.”

Jeremy half-smiled.  “Guess we won’t be swimming again anytime soon, huh?”

Yancy gave Jeremy a small smile back.  “Yeah...I guess not.”

The two got along better after that.  They still had their disagreements, of course, but now there was more of an air of respect between them as opposed to simply tolerance.


	3. Irritation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! So I have totally been smiling for the last 48 hours because of all the statistics I've been seeing on my stories!! I'm seriously surprised to have so many kudos on this OC-centric fic, and my author subscription count increased!! I am both flattered and humbled that people enjoy my writing enough to sign up for an overarching subscription to my stuff!! It seriously pumps me up like you wouldn't believe!! Thank you, everyone!
> 
> Also, the hit and kudo counts for my Depth of Obsession series fics in general have been steadily rising...! I love it!! I really hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as the last. Seriously, thank you all for keeping me going. I wouldn't be able to without your collective support!!

Hours before Yancy would call his friends and apologize, Jeremy was with Kyle in his room holding an ice pack to his swollen nose.  Yancy had indeed broken it, though it wasn’t a serious fracture, and it was throbbing with pain.  Jeremy had gone with Kyle’s grandparents to get his nose reset at the nearest hospital.  His injury was the result of a minor scuffle with Yancy after Jeremy had said a smart-mouthed comment about the blonde’s younger brother.  He was at Kyle’s now because the brunette had insisted on being the one to nurse Jeremy back to health.  Kyle had also called Jeremy's parents on his behalf, informing them that the other boy would be spending the night as his house and graciously omitting what had happened to his nose.

Jeremy's lips curled into a small smile after his best friend hung up the phone.  "You doe dere goin' to bind out toborrow, bright?"

Kyle chuckled and sat down on his bed next to Jeremy.  "Yeah, but tomorrow we can tell them you got hurt by something other than Yancy."

Jeremy raised an eyebrow.  "You honestly dink dey'd belieb dat? M'not a klutz like you, y’doe."

Kyle laughed.  "Well...we'll come up with something believable.  Don't worry, my grandparents are cool.  They won't tell what really happened."

The dark-haired boy sighed.  "Dey're adults doe...I bind dat hard to belieb."

His best friend gave him a small smile.  "I know, but trust me.  I think I know them better than you do."

Jeremy let out another sigh and slumped his shoulders.  "Yeah, albright.  Bine..."

Kyle half-smiled.  “You know...the only bad thing is you’re going to have to sleep while sitting up tonight.”

If Jeremy could have snorted, he would have.  Instead, he settled for narrowing his eyes.

“M’goin’ to kill Yenthcy.”

“Aw, c’mon, Jack…” said Kyle.  “You don’t mean that.”

Ever since Kyle had entered the seventh grade, his grandfather would sometimes let him drink a bit of his favorite whiskey, Jack Daniel’s, while teaching the brunette some card gambling games, which they always made sure never to do around his grandmother.  Around that time, Kyle had started calling his best friend Jack, because he shared the same first initial and last name as the drink.  Though he would never admit it out loud, Kyle had also wanted a nickname for his friend that he was sure no one else would readily think to call the dark-haired boy.

Jeremy made a small noise that sounded like a grunt and slowly leaned his body against the wall.  “Whatebber.”

Kyle bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from laughing.  He adjusted his position on the bed so that his body was also resting against the wall beside Jeremy.  He grinned at his friend and gave him a pat on the knee.

“Go ahead and sleep, Jack,” said Kyle.  “I’ll make sure you won’t fall over.”

Jeremy’s brows furrowed together.  “Dat doesn’t bake any sense.  Den when do you sweep?”

Kyle couldn’t help but to laugh this time.  “Don' worry, I’ll be bine.”

“Are you makin’ bun ob bee?” Jeremy asked.

If he could have crinkled his nose then, he probably would have.  Instead, Jeremy’s attempt to look serious was greatly subdued by his injury, causing him to look like a pouting toddler.  

Kyle was quickly able to contain his laughter, but his eyes were still sparkling with amusement.  “I don’t know...maybe?”

“Agh...scoo you,” said Jeremy.

Kyle snickered.  He laughed when Jeremy jabbed him in the side with his free hand.  

“Hey!” Kyle said, smiling.  “Quit it!”

“You deserbe it,” Jeremy said before poking at his friend again.

This time Kyle caught his friend’s hand in both of his own, and he reacted in a manner that confused Jeremy.  The brunette initially stared at the hand before flushing a light pink and releasing it quickly.  

Jeremy raised an eyebrow.  “You obkay, Kyle?”

“Ah...yeah,” Kyle said with a somewhat nervous smile.

Before Jeremy could ask anything further, the boys were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing from downstairs.  They heard Kyle’s grandmother pick up the phone and at first all that could be heard was the sound of her voice which was muffled by the floor between them.

A few seconds later, the brunette’s grandmother called up the stairs.  “Kyle?  It’s for you!  Would you come get the phone please?”

“Yeah!  Coming!” Kyle said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.

He turned back to his friend and flashed an apologetic smile.  “Be right back.  Might be my folks.”

Jeremy shrugged.  “Take your tibe.”

Kyle scrambled off the bed and bounded out of the room, leaving Jeremy to wonder what the brunette’s earlier reaction had been all about.  Several minutes later, Kyle came back into the room with a cordless phone.  Jeremy raised an eyebrow when his friend held the phone out to him.

“ _Yancy_ ,” Kyle mouthed.

Jeremy scowled.  Kyle gave him a look of disapproval and shook the phone in his face.  The dark-haired boy sighed and reluctantly took the phone from his friend.

“Hebbo?” said Jeremy.

He bristled when he heard the smirk in Yancy’s voice.  “ _Well, you sound terrible.”_

“Whose bault is dat?” Jeremy snapped, earning another harsh look from Kyle.

“ _Be nice_ ,” Kyle mouthed with a frown on his face.

Jeremy sighed and rolled his eyes.  Yancy chuckled from the other end.

“ _Kyle just told you to behave, didn’t he?”_

“Shut ub, ban,” said Jeremy.  “Why you callin’?”

He heard Yancy let out a small breath of air.  “ _Well...to apologize.”_

If the blonde had been in front of him at that moment, Jeremy would have eyed the other boy suspiciously.  “Why?”

“ _C’mon Jerry...you know why.”_

“No, I don’t doe,” Jeremy said stubbornly.  

Yancy sighed.  “ _Alright,_ _**fine**_ _...for breaking your nose…”_

“An’ being a dasshole,” Jeremy added.

“ _Yeah, okay,”_ Yancy conceded.  “ _That too.”_

“Why you tryin’ to bake dice eddyway?” asked Jeremy.

After a moment’s hesitation, Yancy responded.  “ _I don’t know, man.  I just don’t want to lose you as a friend...alright?”_

Although highly suspicious of this response, Jeremy decided that he would accept it.  Of course the glare he was getting from Kyle probably weighed heavily into making his decision.

“Yeah, a’right... _bine_ …” Jeremy grumbled.  “I accept your abologee…”

Kyle beamed.  Jeremy resisted the urge to roll his eyes.  He heard Yancy let out a small sigh of relief.

“ _Thanks, Jerry…”_

“You wanna dock to Kyle ‘gain?” asked Jeremy.

“ _Yeah, that’d be good,”_ said Yancy.  “ _Thanks.”_

Jeremy took the phone from his ear and handed it to Kyle.  He then let out a sigh as he leaned his head back against the wall tiredly and closed his eyes while listening to Kyle wrap up his conversation with Yancy.

“Yup!  Sounds good!” said Kyle.  “We’ll see you later at school, then!”

Kyle then hung up the phone and bounced happily onto his bed, causing Jeremy to groan in pain.  The brunette’s hazel eyes widened.

“Oh shoot!  Sorry, Jack!” Kyle said, his brows scrunching together in worry.  

Jeremy shook his head and held up the hand that wasn’t holding the ice pack to his face to stop Kyle from fussing over him.  “Don’ worry ‘bout it...it’s bine…”

Kyle bit his lip.  “Man…”

Jeremy chuckled softly.  “You’re really habby dow, huh?”

“Well of course I am,” Kyle said with a frown.  “It would’ve sucked if we all stopped being friends.”

“You cuddub still been freds widdout be,” said Jeremy.

Kyle shook his head.  “Wouldn’t have been the same then.”

The two boys fell silent again.  Jeremy’s eyes began to flutter.  Kyle chuckled and reached for the ice pack the dark-haired boy was holding.

“Here, let me do that for you.”

“It’s bine…” Jeremy said tiredly.  

“No, c’mon,” said Kyle.  “Your hand probably needs a break.”

Jeremy sighed and let Kyle have his way.  He grunted when he tried to flex his numb hand; he hadn’t realized how stiff it had gotten.  Kyle set the ice pack down beside him on the mattress before taking Jeremy’s hand in his own.

Kyle frowned.  “Your hand’s frozen!”

The dark-haired boy shrugged slightly in response.  “What you egspect?  Been holdig ice.”

Kyle cupped his hands around Jeremy’s cold one and tried to warm it with his breath.  The younger boy chuckled and looked at his friend through his eyes which were half-lidded due to drowsiness.

“Dat jus’ makes it colder you doe…” said Jeremy.

Kyle looked up at his friend curiously.  “It does?”

“Yeah.  Dat stuff ohdee really works in da moobees,” said Jeremy.  “N’real life, it jus’ makes dings colder…”

“Dang...I thought it would help,” said Kyle.  “How about covering it with my blanket, then?”

“M’yeah...dat’ll work,” Jeremy said with a nod.

Kyle quickly tucked part of his blanket around his friend’s hand.  “Better?”

“Gib it a minute,” Jeremy said with a slight chuckle.  “Takes tibe do warbup, y’doe?”

“Ah…!  Yeah…” Kyle said, blushing and averting his gaze.  “I guess that’s true…”

He looked up again when his friend let out a soft sigh.  Kyle tilted his head to the side.

“You ready to call it a night?” Kyle asked.

“Yeah,” Jeremy said, nodding.

“Okay.  I’m going to go switch off the light,” said Kyle.

After the room became dark, Kyle moved cautiously back towards his bed while his eyes adjusted.  He slowly climbed back onto the bed, careful not to disturb his friend’s injury too much.  When he was once again settled next to Jeremy, he felt his friend turn his head towards him.

“You goin’ bed?” Jeremy asked quietly.

“Nah, I think I’ll be fine,” said Kyle.  “I’ll just take naps tomorrow in homeroom and at lunch.”

“Dat’s stupid,” said Jeremy.

Kyle chuckled.  “Just _sleep_ , Jeremy.  You’re the one who isn’t supposed to put your head down.”

Jeremy sighed.  Kyle using his full name meant there wasn’t any room for argument.

“Yeah, a’right, _bine_ …” Jeremy said, trying to settle himself into as comfortable a position as he could manage.  “You try an’ get some rest too doe…”

Kyle smiled.  “I told you...I’ll catch up on my sleep tomorrow.”

His friend hummed back tiredly in response.  “Hm…”

The dark-haired boy soon fell asleep.  Kyle listened to the rhythmic sound of Jeremy breathing softly through his mouth.  For the first couple of hours, Kyle watched his friend carefully and made sure to straighten his friend up every time it seemed like Jeremy would tip over.  While doing so, Kyle took the time to admire his friend.  

He didn’t know when exactly he first realized that his feelings for Jeremy went beyond friendship, but he was only becoming more sure of those feelings as he got older.  If someone had asked him what he thought made him so attracted to Jeremy was, Kyle probably wouldn’t have been able to provide a definitive answer.  All he knew for sure was that there was something about the dark-haired boy that had always just drawn Kyle in.

If they hadn’t been learning in school that same-sex relationships were considered outside of the norm, Kyle might have made more of an effort to pursue his feelings.  As it was, Kyle was content enough with the state of his current relationship with his friend, and he valued Jeremy too much to risk losing that friendship.  So every time he caught himself wishing that there was something more between them, Kyle was quick to backtrack and shove those thoughts to the far recesses of his mind.  In this particular instance though, Kyle figured that a minor allowance could be made.

Kyle sat upright next to his friend and pressed his back against the wall before hooking his leg around one of Jeremy’s outstretched ones with the hope that it would help keep the boy’s lower half anchored in place.  Then Kyle gently nudged his friend’s head over so that it would rest atop his shoulder.  After he was satisfied that Jeremy was securely in place, Kyle then folded his hands and let them rest in front of him before slowly closing his eyes and falling asleep.

The next morning, Jeremy woke up partially because of discomfort in his neck.  He groaned softly when he lifted his head, the muscles in his neck and shoulder felt extremely tight.  He turned his head to the left to see what it was he had been resting his head on, and he half-smiled when he realized it had been Kyle.  If he had been a bit more awake he might have reacted with more surprise, but as it was, he was just amused and maybe a little moved by Kyle’s concern in making sure he had slept upright all night.

Suddenly, Jeremy was glad they were at Kyle’s grandparent’s place.  They weren't advocates of delinquent behavior, but they were the type to be cool about letting things slide once in a while.  Sure it was a school day, and Jeremy was pretty sure Kyle would flip out once he realized they had missed class, but Jeremy thought his friend really needed to live a little.  Rather than waking his friend, Jeremy slowly tilted his head back and rested it slightly atop Kyle’s.  He closed his eyes and went back to sleep with a small smile on his face.


	4. Chemistry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo...I couldn't resist, and it's been a while since I've given this story some love. Plus, I can't always seem to control whatever it is my muse wants to do next, and for the past two days it wanted to work on this one. ANYWAY, hope you all like it!
> 
> Next chapter, I think, is going to be a long one, if not the longest one for this entire story. I _think_ it will end up featuring a lot more of the Beckets, but I make no definitely promises on that. 
> 
> Thanks as always to everyone for their continued support, and yay to the fact that my author subscription count has increased yet again!! No idea who you are, but I'm glad that you guys enjoy my work enough to sign up for alerts! Seeing the number increase totally made my week. :D
> 
> Been plugging away daily at bringing all you Becketcest fans more to read on them, so I hope you all are able to excuse this brief break into my world of OC's. Lolol. Hope you all enjoy!! Now I shall once again be switching gears and focusing more on my more Becket-centric works!

They were both angry at each other, but for different reasons.  Kyle though, of course, was a lot better about suppressing his agitation.

It wasn’t that Kyle couldn’t accept that, romantically speaking, Jeremy seemed to prefer girls.  Rather, Kyle had difficulties with trying not to feel jealous whenever his best friend brought up the subject, because he knew it just wasn’t fair to the other boy.  Sometimes though, Jeremy really made it hard for Kyle to keep his emotions in check.

Like when he found out, in passing, that Jeremy liked straight porn.  Now _that_ had thrown Kyle for a loop, because the other boy had never mentioned it to him.  Kyle didn’t know what bothered him more—finding out that his friend had kept something a secret from him, or Jeremy’s implications that he got off from the stuff.  The first thought gave Kyle a sinking feeling in his gut and made him a little paranoid, wondering if perhaps there was a whole mountain of secrets that Jeremy was possibly keeping from him.  The second idea caused him to feel a tightness in his chest; Kyle never really expected to have a chance with his friend, but he would have liked to hang on to his fantasies for a bit longer.  Perhaps it was partly out of spite that he had chosen to go home with Yancy after his two friends had gotten into their latest argument.

His decision to do so was one of several reasons why Jeremy was irritated with the brunette.  The dark-haired boy had stormed home after his fight with Yancy—he had shown the blonde’s younger brother several adult-themed magazines, which Yancy had been none too happy about.  The older blonde’s hot words had annoyed Jeremy, sure, but he was used to dealing with that.  What he wasn’t used to, and what he thought he could never get used to, was when Kyle decided to step in, attempting to mediate the situation.  Jeremy knew he probably wasn’t being fair, but he couldn’t stand how it always seemed like Kyle was taking Yancy’s side in every argument he had with the blonde.  After all, in Jeremy’s mind, since he and Kyle were friends together first, he thought that it should have naturally followed that the brunette have his back more so than anyone else.

Which was why Jeremy stubbornly glared at his cell phone when Kyle’s name flashed across his screen, and he refused to answer the call.  Being petty was not something Jeremy liked to be, but at that moment he found that he couldn’t help himself.  

He was mildly disappointed when Kyle gave up after his third attempt at trying to get through; however, it turned out that he needn’t have worried.  A few minutes later, his mother was calling him from down the stairs.

“ _Jeremy?  Honey?  Could you come down here please?”_

The dark-haired boy groaned softly before rising from his bed.  As much as he wanted to, he knew better than to holler back down at his mother; his parents hadn’t raised him that way.  He left his room and went down the stairs so he could answer his mother in a timely fashion.  

When he was closer to the bottom of the stairs, he called for his mother.  “Yeah, mom?  What is it?”

His mother smiled at him as she poked her head around a corner to look at her son.  “Kyle’s in the garage for you.”

Jeremy frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.  “I don’t really want to see him right now, Mom.  Could you send him away for me?”

Lisa Daniels raised an eyebrow at her son.  “You two fighting?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe,” Jeremy said with a scowl as he leaned his tall and lanky frame against the nearest wall.

“Well, I’m surprised,” his mother said, shaking her head at him.  “You two hardly ever get into arguments.  You sure you’re not being too hard on him, honey?”

Jeremy sighed, knowing that his mother was subtly hinting at his quick temper.  “I just...I don’t know, Mom…”

“Why don’t you give him a chance, Jeremy,” said Lisa.  “I’m sure you two can work it out.  You’ve both been friends for a long time.”

Out of respect for his mother, Jeremy kept from narrowing his eyes at her.  He recognized the unspoken warning in her words.  He could be mad at Kyle all he wanted, sure, but he had to consider whether or not the situation was worth potentially tossing their friendship over.  He knew he didn’t need his mother’s help to know what the answer to that question was.

“Eh, yeah...all right, fine...” Jeremy grumbled.  “I guess I can see him…”

“Good,” said Lisa.  “I’ll send him in.”

“Nah, it’s alright,” Jeremy said, shaking his head.  “I’ll go get him.”

His mother smiled.  “That’s a good boy, Jeremy.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Jeremy muttered, faintly blushing at his mother’s praise.  “Whatever…”

Lisa chuckled as her son passed by her.  “Ask Kyle if he’s eaten anything.  I’ll be making dinner.”

Jeremy resisted the urge to groan, though he couldn’t help running a hand over his face.  “Yeah, all right.  Okay.”

He was too far away at that point to hear the words his mother whispered to herself in amusement as she shook her head.  “Can’t believe how much he’s taken after his father; he was just like that at his age…”

Jeremy was in no hurry to get to his garage.  At some point, he and Kyle had developed a habit of meeting up there whenever the brunette decided he wanted to come over; it was easier for them to just hop onto the pair of scooters his father had bought for their use and zip out of the garage to go wherever they wanted to go.  Jeremy was particularly grateful for this that day, because it gave him a little more time to think about what he was going to say to his friend; if Kyle had come to the front door, there would have been no avoiding him from the start because the stairs were in plain view from the front door.  

He took in a short breath when he reached the back door and let it out with a small sigh as he nudged open the screen door with his foot.  He stepped into the garage while at the same time pulling the innermost door closed behind him.  Kyle’s back had been turned towards him, but the brunette spun around slowly when he heard the screen door make a few light slapping noises behind Jeremy.  His lips formed a small, unsure smile.  Jeremy shoved his hands into his pockets and lowered his gaze, unable to look his friend in the eye.

“What’chu want…?” Jeremy asked as he kicked at the ground with one of his feet.  

The dark-haired boy sensed more than saw his friend shrug.  “I don’t know...you weren’t answering your phone, so…”

“So?  Maybe I was just busy,” Jeremy said curtly.

He instantly regretted it when he saw the look of hurt flash briefly in his friend’s expressive hazel eyes.  Kyle’s shoulders slumped a little.

“Ah...well...look,” said Kyle.  “I know you’re mad at me, so—”

“And why would you think that?” Jeremy asked sarcastically; he knew he was being a jerk, but the words had left his mouth before he really had a chance to think them through.

To his credit though, Kyle didn’t react unfavorably.  Instead, he gave Jeremy a small smile and shrugged his shoulders.

“I took Yancy’s side instead of yours today...I shouldn’t have done that.”

Jeremy blinked.  He hadn’t been expecting that apology.  

The two boys stood there in awkward silence for a few moments.  Jeremy let out a small sigh as Kyle shifted uneasily on his feet.  It took Jeremy a second to realize Kyle was giving him a bit of an out—even if Jeremy didn’t deserve it.  Sure, Jeremy didn’t _like_ when Kyle took their other friend’s side in arguments, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know _why_ the other boy always did so.  The facts were, Kyle valued his friends, and Yancy was more likely than Jeremy to sever ties rather than trying to work out conflicts if things weren’t working out.  Still, as much as Jeremy appreciated Kyle’s confidence in the strength of their friendship, sometimes the dark-haired boy felt as if he was being taken for granted.

At the same time, Jeremy figured Kyle’s somewhat casual attitude towards him was his fault, at least in part.  There had always been something about Kyle where Jeremy could only find himself angry with the brunette so long as the other boy was completely out of sight.  Once Kyle was physically in front of him though, much like he was now, Jeremy found that his resolve easily crumbled.  

Jeremy sighed with resignation, finally breaking the silence.  He then pointed one of his thumbs over at the door behind him.

“My mom’s making dinner…” Jeremy mumbled.  “Want to come in and have some…?”

Kyle’s expression brightened somewhat, and the look in his eyes became hopeful.  “You all right with that…?”

“Aw, hell...just come in before I change my mind, okay?” Jeremy muttered as he turned to open the door for his friend.

Kyle beamed.  “Thanks, Jack!”

The brunette quickly scurried past Jeremy and rushed into his house.  Jeremy half-smiled and rubbed at the back of his neck before following his friend inside.  

The tension between the two boys somewhat cooled over dinner, perhaps because of the food or it could have been due to the presence of both of Jeremy’s parents; it was kind of hard to say.  What most certainly helped was the fact that Kyle had made the move to come over to Jeremy’s house in the first place, to try and make amends.  That, followed by Kyle’s decision to spend the night over at Jeremy’s, was probably the main reason why the dark-haired boy was able to somewhat forgive his friend.  Of course, Jeremy being who he was, he couldn’t completely keep himself from making a few snarky comments on the subject just before bed.

Whenever Kyle decided to spend the night over at his house, the two boys always took over the living room of Jeremy’s house.  The dark-haired boy made his first snippy remark as the two of them spread several sheets out on the floor.

“You know...I get it with Yancy, I really do,” Jeremy said, shaking his head a little.  “...but would it really kill you to take my side every once in a while?”

Kyle let out a small sigh and Jeremy saw the other boy slump his shoulders slightly from the corner of his eye.  “Hey...I said I was sorry about that, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, well, you’re always doing it…” Jeremy said as he glared at the pillow he was fluffing.  “And I don’t know...I get the feeling like you think I’m always going to just take it or something.”

The other boy stopped in his movement and Jeremy could sense that Kyle was frowning at him.  “You trying to say something, Jack?”

“I don’t know,” Jeremy said stubbornly, well aware that he was acting like more of a jerk than usual.  “What if I am?”

“Then I think you should just come right out and say it,” said Kyle.  “No sense in just keeping it all bottled up, yeah?”

Jeremy both noted and tried to ignore the fact that the other boy’s voice sounded a little shaky.  He finally turned his head to look at his friend.  A bit of his irritation dissipated upon seeing how hurt Kyle appeared.  The dark-haired boy’s jaw clenched, and for once Jeremy decided to swallow his words instead of saying them.

“Never mind.  Forget it,” Jeremy said tightly as he shifted his focus and began to angrily fluff another pillow.  “I don’t even get why I’m so fired up about it anyways.”

The truth was Jeremy did know, but he was too prideful to admit that he was feeling jealous over something as trivial as Kyle being so quick to defend Yancy every time he and Jeremy got into an argument.  He was also too embarrassed to admit that he realized that at some point, he had allowed himself to become attached as well as a bit territorial when it came to Kyle.  Jeremy was pretty sure that if the brunette had never become a part of his life, he would have probably ended up living life content as a loner.  

Once he had finished his preparations, Jeremy flopped onto his side, turning his back towards Kyle.  Inwardly, he groaned at his own childish actions.

“ _Come on, get a grip,”_ Jeremy internally berated himself.

He heard Kyle’s sigh from behind him.  “Jack…”

Jeremy let out a sigh of his own and turned around to face his friend.  He buried his half his face behind some of his blanket.

“Yeah, okay, sorry…” Jeremy mumbled behind the covers.  “I’ll stop being such an ass…”

Kyle half-smiled at him, and Jeremy felt a tinge of guilt upon noticing how tired his best friend seemed.  Jeremy’s fingers fiddled with a part of his blanket as his eyebrows furrowed together.

“Could I ask you something though…?” he asked.

Kyle shrugged, but his tone was wary.  “Sure...go ahead.  What is it?”

“What is it you see in Yancy though, anyway?” asked Jeremy.  “I mean, the guy only really seems to care about his damn little brother.”

“Come on, Jeremy…” Kyle said, shaking his head.  “Would you lay off the kid already?  Raleigh isn’t a bad kid.  And you and Yancy may butt heads all the time, but you can feel it too, don’t you?”

Jeremy scrunched his nose.  “Feel what?”

“How we all kind of even each other out,” said Kyle.  “Even if our personalities do clash sometimes.”

“What, you trying to say we all need each other, or something cheesy like that?”

Kyle gave Jeremy a look of exasperation.  “Seriously, what is it with you, sometimes?”

Jeremy frowned.  “What do you mean, what’s with me…?”

“I _mean_...I don’t get why you’re always so...so...damn, I can’t even think of a word for it,” Kyle said, shaking his head.

“Infuriating…?  Yeah, I know...I don’t know why either,” Jeremy muttered as he got up to turn off the light.  “You just fucking _do_ something to me, sometimes.”

Kyle blinked and looked at his friend curiously.  Jeremy had said the words so softly, he had almost missed it.  Clearly, Jeremy hadn’t meant for the brunette to hear.  If Kyle hadn’t been so frustrated with his best friend in that moment, he might have laughed.  Apparently, Jeremy didn’t think the brunette had caught anything of what he said, because he didn’t seem to expect any sort of response.

The dark-haired boy flipped the light switch, and the living room became cloaked in darkness.  Kyle focused on the sound of his own breathing as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the change; he listened to the shuffling of sheets as Jeremy settled back down somewhere beside him.  For a moment, neither boy said anything, and Kyle’s thoughts briefly wondered over what Jeremy had meant earlier when he implied that the brunette had some kind of effect on him.  In the end, he was unable to come up with any answers for himself; however, going through the thought process brought to the surface something completely unrelated that had been bothering Kyle.  He decided to bring up the subject after a brief internal debate.

He turned towards his friend.  “Hey.  Jack.”

Jeremy grunted in response.  “Hm.”

Kyle wet his lower lip nervously.  “Mind if I ask you something?”

“What’s up?”

“Well…I was just wondering…” Kyle started awkwardly.

“...yeah?”

The brunette was grateful that the room was dark, because he was pretty sure that he was blushing.  “You know, about the magazines you were showing Raleigh…”

“Okay…?” said Jeremy.  “What about ‘em?  Did you want to borrow a few?”

“What?  Oh, no…” Kyle said with a slight frown.  “Nah, nothing like that…”

“Okay?  So what, then?” asked Jeremy.

“Ah...well...I mean...I was just curious,” Kyle said, fumbling around for the right words to say.  “You...do you really like reading those, Jack?”

Jeremy gave his friend a one-shoulder shrug.  “I mean, they’re all right.”

“Mm...you said you get off on them though, right?” Kyle asked.

He felt his heart flutter when the dark-haired boy laughed.  “What?  You talking about when I said it wasn’t my fault if Yancy couldn’t get his up reading them?  I just said that because I knew it would piss him off.”

“Oh…” Kyle said, feeling his face flush harder.  “So…”

“I don’t know.  I don’t really think too hard about it when I'm looking through ‘em,” said Jeremy.  “They’re not real, anyway.”

Kyle frowned.  “What?  What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean the girls are real, sure,” Jeremy amended.  “But you can totally tell they do that photo retouching thing.  You know, like what those photographers do for our school photographs?  Makes everything look a little too perfect?”

“Ah, yeah…” said Kyle.  

Jeremy chuckled.  “They’re just pretty to look at, that’s all.  I like to look at nice things...don’t you?”

“Uh...y-yeah, I guess,” Kyle stammered.

“I’ll admit though,” said Jeremy.  “I do prefer them over the real thing.”

Kyle tensed and he felt as if his stomach were doing a few somersaults.  “Y-you do…?”

“Yeah, you kidding?” said Jeremy.  “They don’t nag, whine, or do anything else that’s annoying.”

“Have you...ever dated one?” Kyle asked.

“What, a girl?” asked Jeremy.  “Are you really asking me that, Kyle?”

The brunette felt his face grow hot when his friend burst out laughing at him.  Kyle frowned.

“I don’t see what’s so funny…” he said, somewhat miffed.

“ _Dude_ ,” Jeremy managed to say in between his laughter.  “Just think about it, would you?  If I had a girlfriend, don’t you think you’d know…?  We’re almost always around each other.”

“W-well, I don’t know…!” said Kyle.  “I mean, I’m sure you could find ways.”

Jeremy snorted.  “Yeah, like I’d put in that much effort to conceal something.”

“A-ah...yeah, that’s true,” Kyle said, feeling even more flustered.

Another brief lapse of silence fell between the two boys.  Kyle’s fingers fiddled nervously with his set of sheets.

“Say, Jack…”

“Hm?”

“...you ever want one?”

“Huh?  Want one of what?”

“A girlfriend.”

“Oh.”

“Well…?”

Kyle heard the light rustle of Jeremy’s sheets as the other boy shrugged.  “Eh, I don’t know.  To be honest, I don’t really think about dating much…you?”

“Mm...yeah, me neither,” said Kyle.  “So…”

“Yeah?”

Kyle rubbed at his nose with a finger.  “Uh...how come you read ‘em?”

“What?  What are you talking about now?”

“Ah, sorry…” said Kyle.  “I mean the magazines.  The ones you showed Raleigh.”

“Oh, those?” Jeremy said, chuckling.  “Eh...I don’t know.  The same reason why I smoke cigarettes, I guess.”

Kyle tilted his head to the side.  “Oh, yeah?  And what’s that…?”

Jeremy shrugged.  “It’s just seems like something we’re supposed to do as men, you know?”

Kyle scrunched his nose.  “Well, your dad doesn’t smoke.”

Jeremy laughed.  “Yeah, well my pops is the exception.  Plus, he’s married.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” asked Kyle.

“When you’re old and settled, that’s when it’s time to hang up your rebel coat,” said Jeremy.  “Gotta focus on setting an example for the kids, you know?”

Kyle’s lips quirked up at the corners.  “You calling yourself a rebel, Jack?”

He could hear the smile in his friend’s voice as Jeremy responded to his question.  “What, you think I’m a conformist?”

“Nah…you’re definitely not that,” Kyle said, shaking his head in amusement.  “Far from it, actually.”

“Good,” said Jeremy.  “For a minute there, I thought I was going to have to set the record straight.”

Kyle chuckled.  He smiled when he heard Jeremy let out a small yawn and turned his head in the dark-haired boy’s direction.

“You tired, Jack?”

“Yeah, kinda...sorry...you mind if we sleep?” asked Jeremy.

Kyle shook his head.  “Nah, it’s fine.  G’night.”

“Night.”

Both boys adjusted themselves into more comfortable positions.  After they had settled, both boys fell into a deep sleep.  

Kyle was the first one to wake the next morning.  He blinked his eyes several times to allow them to adjust to the change in light.  Still a bit disoriented from sleep, it took him a few more minutes before he realized that sometime during the course of the evening, he and Jeremy had gotten closer together.  To Kyle’s relief, the dark-haired boy was still very much asleep.  The brunette found that he couldn’t tear his eyes away though.  He spent a few minutes quietly taking in his best friend’s facial features, taking note of all the little details.

At some point, he had gotten so distracted with his observations, he was caught completely off-guard when Jeremy’s steady breathing stopped abruptly and the dark-haired boy suddenly opened his grey eyes.  The minute he did so, Kyle froze, his own eyes widening in shock.  The brunette thought he could hear his heart pounding loud against his ribcage.  Much to his surprise, Jeremy didn’t seem to appear too bothered about their close proximity, or the fact that he had caught Kyle red-handed in his staring.  It was difficult to tell whether this was because Jeremy didn’t find it unusual or if he was just too tired to notice.  

Jeremy flashed Kyle a lazy, easygoing smile before making a small noise as he turned away from the other boy so he could stretch out his limbs.  He then turned on his side with his back towards Kyle, and for a moment the brunette wondered if his friend had fallen back asleep.  Kyle had been about to let out the breath he was holding when Jeremy suddenly turned back around, startling him.  At that moment, Kyle was grateful that he was still lying down on the ground, because he was sure he might have done something embarrassing—like skyrocket through the ceiling, had he been standing.

“How’d you sleep last night?” Jeremy asked.

Kyle’s eyebrows furrowed together and he blinked several times stupidly.  “H-huh…?”

Jeremy chuckled.  “You still out of it, man?”

“A-ah...yeah…” Kyle said with a sheepish smile.  

Just then, the Jeremy’s cell phone alarm went off, ringing above their heads.  The dark-haired boy sighed and reached his arm up, patting his hand around on the ground in search of his phone.  When he found it, Jeremy tucked his free hand behind his head while using the other to turn off the alarm on his phone.  Jeremy’s eyes squinted due to the brightness of the display.  

Once he shut the alarm off, Jeremy let the phone drop onto his chest with a light thump and he let out a small sigh as he draped the arm that had been holding it over his eyes.  He let out a groan and chuckled at the same time.

“About an hour before we have to get to class,” said Jeremy.  “I can’t wait until next year, when we can actually fucking drive to school.”

Kyle snorted softly.  “Trying to maximize your sleeping time as much as you can?”

Jeremy lifted part of his arm to reveal an eye.  “ _Hell yeah_ , man!  I ain’t a natural early riser.”

Kyle shook his head in amusement.  “You and Yancy…”

“Hey, we both value our sleep, alright?” said Jeremy.  “At least that’s one thing I can say he and I definitely agree on.”

Kyle laughed and playfully smacked Jeremy on the chest with the back of one of his hands.  “Okay.  C’mon man.  We’d better get ready so we can get to the bus stop in time.  You know Mrs. O’Grady will have no problem leaving our sorry asses behind if we’re late.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Jeremy said, grinning slightly.  “You want to hit the shower first, or should I?”

Kyle took a split second to think about it.  “Well, if it’s all the same to you...since I’m the guest, I think I should go first, yeah?”

In all honesty, the brunette really liked the way Jeremy looked after popping out of the shower.  Of course, that was something he’d never admit out loud.  Kyle figured that if he went first, he’d have a little more time to admire Jeremy, who rarely walked around shirtless.

“Hey, have at it, man.  No arguments there,” Jeremy said with a laugh.  “You’ll get the water all nice and toasty for me if you go first, so if anything, that totally works to my advantage.  I’m in no hurry to wake myself up all the way anyway.”

“Bastard!” Kyle said, chuckling.  “That was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”

Jeremy shrugged.  “Hey, you walked into that one all on your own.”

“Yeah, well you’d better watch yourself!” Kyle said as he slowly got up from the floor.  “I’ll figure out a way to get you back somehow.”

“ _Hah_.  I’d like to see you try, Hunter,” Jeremy said with a grin.  “I’d like to see you try.”

“Whatever,” Kyle said as he cheerfully flicked off his best friend.  “You sticking around here until I’m done?”

“Nah,” Jeremy said, shaking his head.  “I’m going to clean up here and then I’ll be in my room.  Come and get me when you’re done, yeah?”

Kyle nodded.  “Yeah, alright, will do.  See you in a bit.”

“Later,” said Jeremy.

Jeremy went ahead and cleaned up all the pillows and sheets after Kyle had left the living room.  He took everything back up to his bedroom and eventually seated himself onto his bed once he had put everything away.  Several minutes later, Kyle walked into the room shirtless, but wearing jeans.  Jeremy bounced onto his feet from his bed.

“Well now, don’t you look fresh,” the dark-haired boy said with a grin.

Kyle blushed slightly, and hoped that the other boy wouldn’t notice as he rubbed a small towel against his head in order to dry his wet hair.  He tilted his head over slightly in the direction of the open bedroom door.

“Better hop in while it’s still warm,” Kyle said softly.  “Don’t let my efforts go to waste, now.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jeremy said, chuckling as he rummaged through his drawers to grab the change of clothes that he needed.  “I’m going, man, don’t rush me…”

There was a second where Kyle thought that he saw Jeremy’s eyes linger on him for a tad longer than usual.  The moment had lasted only for an instant, however, and then it had passed; too quickly for Kyle to be able to grasp at anything to help prove that it had occurred.  He realized that there was also a good chance that he had just imagined it, given that he was painfully aware of his own feelings towards his best friend.

The room felt oddly empty after Jeremy had left it, and Kyle flopped dejectedly onto the other boy’s bed, letting out a small sigh as he stared up at the ceiling.  He shook his head in self-disapproval and he whispered to himself.

“ _Damn it_ …”


	5. Separation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know...I KNOW...it's been FOREVER since my last update! (Almost two weeks, I think. Yikes...!) Believe it or not, I was plugging away at this chapter for every single day it appeared that I had seemingly fallen off the face of the earth. I just had an idea that I couldn't throw away, and it became this large monstrosity of a chapter. Hopefully readers do enjoy the length though. By the way, I totally fabricated my own little culture in here, hope you all don't mind it too much. Just thought it fit. Oh, and please excuse any errors, as this is an unbetaed piece of work...!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy the chapter, and look forward to hearing reader opinions on this bit! Anyway, the plan is to give myself a bit of a break and work on other stories before circling back to this one. We'll see how it goes. Can't always control the muse. Lol.

Jeremy answered the call as soon as he saw Kyle’s number flash on his cell phone’s screen, his pride be damned. Having a career in the military was something he knew his best friend always wanted pursue, ever since they were kids. After the Pan Pacific Defense Corps was formed in response to fight back against the alien creatures that emerged from the Pacific Ocean, joining the PPDC was all Kyle could seem to talk about anymore. So when the brunette told him one day that he was going to attend a week-long recruitment seminar, Jeremy hadn’t been all that surprised.

The subject had, however, become a small source of tension between the two men. Jeremy had declined going with his friends when Kyle had extended the invitation. The brunette had been understandably disappointed, but Jeremy felt that he had a loyalty to his father to work in the family construction business. While Kyle had been accepting of Jeremy’s decision, he certainly hadn’t been happy about it.

“ _Wouldn’t your dad understand if you asked him to go?”_ Kyle had asked him.

Jeremy admitted that his father probably would have, but he thought that Kyle was missing the big picture. His friend couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

“ _What do you mean ‘the big picture’?”_ Kyle had asked him with a frown. _“What bigger picture is there? We’d be out there saving the world, Jack! Protecting innocent people that can’t fend for themselves against these Kaiju beasts! What could possibly be more important than that?”_

When Kyle had put it that way, Jeremy’s reason for staying behind seemed considerably insignificant, but the dark-haired man decided to stick to his guns. In hindsight, he probably shouldn’t have been so stubborn, but it would be years before he’d have that regret. At the time, he was completely convinced that he was doing the right thing.

“ _I promised my pops,”_ Jeremy had said in response to Kyle’s question. _“That when I got old enough, I’d join him in construction. I’m older now—it’s been a year since we’ve all graduated high school. I’m a man of my word, Kyle. You tell me when I haven’t been.”_

His best friend’s lips had pressed into a firm line then, and Jeremy had known that he had won that time. Kyle had dropped the subject and neither of them ever brought it up again until the day Jeremy saw him and Yancy off.

“ _You absolutely sure about this?”_ Kyle had asked Jeremy just before getting into the taxi he and Yancy were taking. _“It’s not too late to change your mind, you know. I’ll have the cab driver wait if you want to just go and tell your dad…”_

Jeremy had been firm and shook his head. It pained him to see the disappointed look that crossed the brunette’s face, but he was both sure of and too stubborn to go back on his decision.

“ _I’ve made up my mind, Kyle, I’m sorry…”_ Jeremy had said. _“You and Yancy are going to be great pilots though, I know you will.”_

Kyle had sighed then. He had also looked away from Jeremy as he spoke his next few words.

“ _All right, Jack…I’ll be seeing you,”_ Kyle had said softly. _“You call me if...when...well...I don’t know. Just if you want to talk...yeah?”_

Jeremy had nodded at his friend. _“Yeah, I will. You two take care, all right? I’ll be seeing you both again soon.”_

“ _Yeah…”_ Kyle had said quietly before slipping into the car. _“Later.”_

After Kyle had shut the door of the car, the cab drove off and that had been that. There had been a sinking feeling in Jeremy’s gut as he watched the taxi roll further and further away from him before going out of sight, but he had been able to resist the urge to chase after the car. Only Yancy had turned around to wave back at Jeremy, and neither the dark-haired man nor Kyle ever ended up exchanging any calls. Jeremy supposed Kyle was probably still angry with him, but he didn’t pick up the phone because he thought it would be good for Kyle. They weren’t kids anymore, and Kyle had the right to live his own life without Jeremy getting a rundown of every minute of it. Not that Kyle was expected to before, but Jeremy had, without even realizing it, gotten used to the roles they had each fallen into at some point over the course of their friendship.

Most people who didn’t know them well used to mistake Jeremy to be the older one. When they were younger, he was the taller one and always protecting the brunette. Now that they were older though, they were almost equal in height. Kyle had also grown into himself, no longer really needing Jeremy to defend him, although he was more than happy to let the dark-haired man keep up the role anyway, even if they both knew better. Jeremy would never admit it out loud, but there were now times where he actually felt as if there was a gap forming between them, and that Kyle was growing further away from his reach by the day.

Which was another reason for Jeremy’s decision not to call while the other man was away. In Jeremy’s mind, he was doing them both a favor. If Kyle ended up joining the PPDC, Jeremy wasn’t sure how often they’d be keeping in touch, realistically speaking. They also most certainly wouldn’t be able to see each other every day like they were now.

Still, that didn’t mean Jeremy had been able to ignore his friend easily. Not a day went by where Jeremy hadn’t been thinking about the brunette while Kyle was away. Truthfully, Jeremy had meant to reach out to the brunette first, but the dark-haired man had never been very good about starting conversations. He both felt like a total jerk and was immensely relieved upon seeing Kyle’s name appear on his phone’s screen.

Jeremy answered the call with a small smile. “Hey, Kyle. What’s up, man? How was the recruitment seminar for the PPDC?”

There was a momentary pause from the other end. Jeremy’s smile wavered slightly.

“...Kyle?”

Jeremy felt his heart skip a beat when Kyle’s voice finally came through from the other end. _“Ah...yeah. Hey Jack. It was good. Yancy and I are back.”_

“Well, no kidding,” Jeremy said somewhat teasingly. “I figured that’s why you were calling.”

“ _I really meant to call you sooner…”_

Jeremy half-smiled. “It’s all right, man. Don’t worry about it. I should’ve tried to call too…”

He smiled a bit wider upon hearing Kyle’s soft laughter. _“Well, I can’t say I was surprised. You’ve never really been the overbearing type.”_

Jeremy shook his head. “Still...I should’ve—”

“ _It’s okay, Jack, really,”_ Kyle said, and Jeremy could almost see the other man smiling. _“God, it’s really great to hear your voice again though…”_

Jeremy frowned to himself, unsure why Kyle’s words were making him feel flustered. He rubbed at the back of his neck.

“Y-yeah…” Jeremy stammered. “Same here…”

His face grew hot when Kyle laughed again. For some reason Jeremy felt as if he had gotten caught somehow.

Kyle chuckled softly. _“Listen, Jack…”_

Jeremy’s eyebrows furrowed together and he rubbed at his nose. “Yeah…? What?”

“ _Can I come see you now…? You're at home, right?”_

Jeremy blinked. Kyle’s statement had caught him off-guard, even though it really shouldn’t have.

“ _...Jack?”_

The dark-haired man cleared his throat before responding. “Oh...uh...yeah, I am. And sure. Come on over.”

He could hear the smile in Kyle’s reply. _“Great! I’ll be there in ten.”_

“Sounds like a plan,” said Jeremy.

Shortly after ending the call, Jeremy began to pace about his house restlessly. For the first few minutes he moved about his room before eventually going down the stairs. His mother was home and reading a newspaper at the kitchen table. In front of her was a cup of coffee and an ashtray for her cigarettes. She didn’t pay her son any mind at first as he walked back and forth between the kitchen and living room, but she finally peered over the newspaper after finishing the article she had been reading.

“Jeremy.”

Her son was clearly too distracted to notice her, and Lisa Daniels chuckled to herself. She gave Jeremy another couple of minutes before trying again.

“ _Honey._ ”

For most children, using their full name seemed to do the trick in getting their undivided attention. In Jeremy’s case, it was using terms of endearment; the sweeter the better. Lisa could never figure out if it was because they made her son cringe or if somewhere along the line her son had gotten the wrong idea that affectionate nicknames were supposed to be associated with being in trouble. Regardless, he was his father’s son indeed—her husband generally had the same reaction to his wife whenever she used such names. She couldn’t remember whether her father-in-law was the same way, but she imagined that it was probably so—it seemed to be an inherited trait among the Daniels’ men.

Jeremy shook his head, as if coming to his senses, and gave his mother a sheepish smile. “Ah...sorry, about that, Mom.”

Lisa chuckled. “That’s all right, son.”

She folded her newspaper before setting it on the table and snuffed out the cigarette she was holding on the ashtray. Jeremy walked over to the windows and opened them to allow fresh air to circulate into the kitchen; neither he nor his mother minded the smell of smoke, but it was mostly for his father’s sake. Normally Jeremy and his mother smoked on the veranda, but on colder or rainy days, the two of them tended to smoke indoors and in the kitchen, since his father mostly kept to the living room or the basement.

“When’s Dad coming home?” Jeremy asked.

“He just went to pick up a few things from the hardware store,” Lisa said, amused at her son’s clumsy attempt at changing the subject. “What’s on your mind, Jeremy?”

She did her best to keep a neutral expression when her son scrunched his nose. Jeremy scratched at the back of his neck with a finger.

“Mm...nothing really,” Jeremy mumbled.

“Come on, son,” Lisa said patiently. “You’ve been acting all jittery for the past few minutes. There must be something.”

Right before her son could answer, their front doorbell rang and Jeremy looked as if he were about to shoot through the ceiling in surprise. Lisa’s eyes widened and she was decidedly split between feeling confused and wanting to burst out into laughter upon seeing her son act so lively. She ended up settling for shaking her head.

“Wonder who that could be,” she said.

Her son blushed at her comment, and that’s when Lisa realized that whoever was at the door was more than likely related to her son’s uncharacteristic behavior. She raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Probably Kyle…” Jeremy muttered, suddenly unable to meet his mother’s eyes. “I’ll go get it.”

The eyebrow lowered and Lisa blinked. “Oh. He’s back?”

“Yeah. I told him he could come over when he asked,” Jeremy said quickly before making his way out of the kitchen.

Lisa laughed softly to herself and got up from her seat so that she could follow after her son. She couldn’t help but smile upon hearing her son’s voice coming from the direction of their front door.

“ _Geezus, Kyle! Couldn’t you have just come through the garage and called me like you used to? You damn near gave me a heart attack, you know, ringing the doorbell like that!”_

Lisa could almost see the eyes of her son’s best friend sparkling with amusement when he replied.

“ _Sorry, Jack, but hey, I only pressed it once though!”_

Lisa didn’t even have to look to know that her son was scowling. _“Well...still...you should’ve just…”_

Hearing her son stumble with his words, Lisa knew it was time to do her motherly duty and intervene. Lisa stepped up behind Jeremy and rested a hand on one of her son’s shoulders.

“What my son _really_ means to say is that he’s  _so_ glad you’re back, as am I,” Lisa said, giving Kyle a warm smile over her son’s head. “Why don’t you come on in, Kyle?”

“Ah! Good afternoon, ma’am!” Kyle said, quickly straightening his posture.

Lisa chuckled. “Now, now, Kyle! No need to be so formal. What are you waiting for? Come in!”

Kyle nodded and stepped inside. “Thank you very much.”

“Make yourself at home,” said Lisa. “By the way, would you like to stay for dinner? Jeremy’s father should be home any minute now.”

“Would that be all right?” asked Kyle.

The brunette stared tentatively at Jeremy when he asked his question. A light frown formed on Jeremy’s face.

“What’chu lookin’ at me for?” Jeremy said as he shrugged a shoulder and looked away. “I don’t really care what you do.”

Lisa resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her son. What he had just said was clearly Jeremy-speak for “of course you can stay for dinner, but you won’t hear me say that out loud because I’m too stubborn to admit it for whatever reason.”

Thankfully though, Kyle was quite fluent in Jeremy. His lips quirked into a small smile.

“Thanks, Jack.”

“For what?” Jeremy asked, rubbing at his nose with a finger. “Quit acting weird.”

Kyle chuckled. “C’mon! Don’t be like that!”

“Be like what? I don’t get what you’re talking about,” Jeremy said stubbornly. “Anyway...you want to come upstairs or what?”

Kyle laughed. “Yeah, okay. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

Lisa smiled as she watched her son and his best friend clamber up the stairs. It was a shame, she thought to herself. Had one of the two been born a girl, they would have been the perfect fit for each other. Kyle was just the right temperament to deal with her testy son. She had no idea how he and Jeremy had managed to become friends in the first place, but she was glad they had—she’d always liked Kyle from the start, ever since her son brought him home for the first time that one winter.

After the young men were out of sight, she turned back in the direction of the kitchen. She needed to prepare a meal for four.

Meanwhile, both Jeremy and Kyle had flopped onto the dark-haired man’s bed. Jeremy had thought about taking a seat at his desk at first, but he had indeed missed his friend. The dark-haired man would never own up to it, but he wanted to stay within close proximity of his friend because there was a part of him that almost couldn’t believe that Kyle was right here beside him. The week they were apart had felt more like months to Jeremy.

“So...how was the recruitment camp-seminar thing…?” Jeremy asked.

“Great!” said Kyle. “They’re really doing some neat stuff at the PPDC, man…”

Jeremy half-smiled at the way Kyle’s eyes lit up. They always seemed to whenever he was talking about anything related to the military. The dark-haired man rubbed at the back of his neck.

“Yeah…? Well...tell me about that,” said Jeremy.

Kyle smiled, showing off his pearly-white teeth. “It’s so cool, man! You know about Jaegers, right?”

Jeremy shrugged. “A little, I guess, yeah. Whatever they show you on the news; that’s about as far as I know.”

“Well they’re more than just life-sized versions of the action figures you and I grew up with,” said Kyle. “It takes two soldiers to pilot each Jaeger, and there’s going to be different classes of ‘em.”

“Classes?” Jeremy asked dutifully.

“Yeah,” Kyle said, nodding. “Each Jaeger built is assigned a different class, Mark One’s are the only ones out right now, but they’re in the process of building others.”

“Crazy…” said Jeremy.

“Sure is!” Kyle agreed enthusiastically.

Jeremy leaned his head on a pillow and listened while his best friend rambled excitedly on. While he wasn’t all too invested in what his friend was talking about, Jeremy did like listening to Kyle talk. It took him a few minutes to realize that Kyle had trailed off at some point, and he blinked upon realizing that the brunette was frowning at him.

“W-what…?” Jeremy said, raising an eyebrow at his friend. “What is it?”

Kyle shook his head. “You weren’t listening at all just now, were you?”

“Sure I was,” said Jeremy.

“Oh yeah?” Kyle said challengingly. “Then what was the last thing I said?”

A small blush rose in Jeremy’s cheeks. He knew he had been caught.

“All right, fine,” said Jeremy. “Maybe I wasn’t listening to the words, but I sure was listening to the sound of your voice.”

The words had left his mouth before he had thought through how they’d probably sound. Kyle blinked initially before his face turned a bright pink. Jeremy was sure that his face mirrored his friend’s, if the heat in his cheeks were any indication.

“Oh,” Kyle said finally.

“Yeah, it's just...soothing is all,” Jeremy mumbled.

Once again his somewhat thoughtless words made things even more awkward between the two men. At that point, it was a competition to see whose face was capable of turning a deeper shade of red. So far, the two men were on pretty equal ground.

What Jeremy really wanted to do at that point was smack himself on the forehead. “Damn it…! I mean…!”

Kyle cleared his throat before shaking his head. “Nah, man...it’s all right. I, uh...I get it, I think...what you were trying to say…”

“Yeah?” asked Jeremy.

Kyle nodded. “Yeah. I think so.”

“Oh, well...okay,” said Jeremy. “Good.”

A silence fell between them for a few minutes, and neither man could look the other in the eye for a while. Finally, Kyle decided to break the silence.

“So, uh…”

“Yeah?” Jeremy asked, looking up at his friend.

“Well, the PPDC…” Kyle started.

Jeremy shrugged. “What about it?”

Kyle tilted his head to the side. “You…”

Jeremy sighed and buried his head into his pillow. “The answer’s _no,_ Kyle. We've talked about this already. Countless times.”

His best friend scrunched his nose. “I didn’t even say anything yet!”

The dark-haired man chuckled and revealed one eye to his friend. “Come on, Kyle. We both know what you were trying to ask. It’s all you ever ask me these days. Whether I’ll change my mind about construction and come join the PPDC with you.”

“Well...they pilot those Jaegers in pairs you know,” said Kyle. “Honestly, I was just hoping that maybe we’d…”

The brunette averted his gaze. Jeremy blinked and realization slowly dawned on him.

“Ah…”

Kyle flushed. “W-what…?”

Jeremy scratched at the back of his head. “Mm...what about Yancy? Wouldn’t they let you work together with him?”

“Eh...it’s not that simple,” Kyle said with a slight shrug.

“Huh? What do you mean?” asked Jeremy.

Kyle shook his head. “Too much to explain, honestly. You had to have been at the seminar.”

“Oh…” said Jeremy.

“Speaking of Yancy though,” said Kyle.

Jeremy raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? What about him?”

“Walked with him back to his house earlier today when we were coming back from the recruitment event…” said Kyle. “I don’t know, man...something’s off with his house, man.”

Jeremy frowned. “What do you mean? Their roof need fixing or something? My dad and I can handle any maintenance issues they’ve got, easy.”

“What? Oh no, no...not like that,” Kyle said, chuckling a little despite his serious expression. “I mean the atmosphere of the house.”

“The atmosphere?”

“Yeah,” said Kyle. “It...it wasn’t friendly.”

Jeremy shook his head. “The way you’re describing it, it’s like their house is haunted or something.”

“Well...the lights were all out when we got there,” Kyle said thoughtfully. “And Yancy just dropped everything he was carrying and ran for the door.”

“Hm...Raleigh all right?” asked Jeremy.

Kyle shrugged. “Not sure, honestly...I heard them talking a little bit in there, but I couldn’t gather much.”

The brunette sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Yancy told me to just get on home…”

Jeremy shrugged. “Well, that sounds about right for him, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, true…” said Kyle. “But I think...I don’t know, man…”

Jeremy frowned. “What’s bothering you? Just spit it out already.”

Kyle sighed again. “Honestly...from what I did hear, it just sounded like their dad’s been beating on Raleigh or something while Yancy was away.”

Jeremy scowled. “What? You sure about that, man?”

His friendly shook his head. “I’m only guessing based on what I heard, Jack…”

“Well, you must’ve heard Yancy say something that made you come to that conclusion,” said Jeremy. “And you’re not the type to just make things up like that, especially something so serious.”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah...man...I don’t know...I don’t even know if there’s anything we can do.”

Now it was the dark-haired man’s turn to sigh. “Well, we can’t really do anything unless Yancy says something to us about it. You know how he is. He’s not going to let us get involved unless he wants us to.”

“Yeah…” Kyle reluctantly agreed.

Jeremy half-smiled and clapped a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “Look...lighten up, all right? I’m sure Yancy’ll reach out to us sometime soon, especially if the situation’s really that serious.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Kyle said with another nod.

“Good. Now quit worrying for now, alright?” said Jeremy. “That ain’t really going to do anything for you right now.”

Kyle chuckled. “I didn’t know you were in the business of giving out life advice these days, Jack.”

Jeremy snorted softly. “Yeah, well now you know. I’m a life coach part-time.”

The two young men shared a laugh, and another brief silence fell between them. Soon the delightful aroma of a home-cooked meal floated up from the kitchen, and both men found themselves sniffing the air.

“Mm…” Kyle hummed appreciatively before giving Jeremy a small smile. “Smells delicious. Is that chicken?”

“Hm...I don’t know what you’re picking up on, but I smell something different,” Jeremy said, tilting his chin slightly upward at his friend with a cheeky grin on his face. “How much you want to bet on the accuracy of your nose?”

Kyle grinned back. “I’ll do one thing—whatever you want, if you’ll do the same for me.”

“Yeah, okay…” Jeremy said with a nod before jabbing a finger in the air in Kyle’s direction. “You’re not talking me into joining the PPDC though.”

He felt a twinge of guilt when the brunette’s shoulders slumped slightly and the playful smile Kyle was wearing wavered. Kyle nodded sullenly.

“Yeah, I know...I wasn’t going to suggest anything like that anyway.”

Jeremy gave his friend an apologetic smile. “Sorry…”

Kyle shook his head. “Nah. It’s okay.”

Jeremy was extremely grateful when his mother chose that very moment to call to them from down the stairs. “Boys…! Food’s ready! Come on down!”

“Yeah! Be right there, Mom!” Jeremy hollered back.

He then looked at his friend and tilted his head towards the door. A small, uncertain smile played on his lips.

“You ready to go find out whether or not she made chicken?” Jeremy asked.

A wave of relief washed over him when Kyle gave him a slight smile back. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

The brunette ended up winning the bet, and perhaps it was rightfully so that he did. Kyle decided to hang around for a few minutes longer after dinner, so the two of them ended up back in Jeremy’s room.

“Alright, so you won our little bet, fair and square,” Jeremy said as soon as he and his best friend had settled back onto his bed. “So what do I owe you now?”

“Well, it’s not everyday that I get a chance like this, so let me think,” Kyle said with a smirk.

“Yeah, okay. I see how it is,” Jeremy said with a chuckle. “Make it good then.”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah…”

Jeremy eyed his friend curiously while the brunette took a moment to ponder. Finally, Kyle let out a deep breath before he spoke up again.

“So...I’ve thought of something,” said Kyle.

Jeremy cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah? And?”

“I, um...well…” Kyle said, wetting his lips nervously. “...I want you to take me to a movie.”

Jeremy did nothing but blink at first; he was slightly dumbfounded. Intimidated by the lack of reaction, Kyle attempted to backtrack.

“Wait…! Actually, I was just kidding…” Kyle said, shaking his head. “I…”

Jeremy seemed to snap out of his daze then and he frowned. “Hey, wait a minute. No you weren’t, Kyle. Hang on.”

Kyle blushed furiously. “H-huh…? W-what?”

Jeremy chuckled and shook his head. “You know what, man. So a movie, huh? That’s what you really want, right?”

If the dark-haired man noticed his friend’s fidgeting, he didn’t let it show. Kyle scratched a finger at the side of his neck and gave Jeremy a slight shrug.

“Eh...I don’t know, man…”

“C’mon, sure you do,” Jeremy said with a small smile. “Shit...if it’s a movie you want, that’s fine. We can do that.”

“Yeah…?” Kyle asked, somewhat cautiously. “That’s all right? Really? We’re cool?”

Jeremy laughed as he nodded. “Yeah, man. We’re cool. You just surprised me there for a sec, is all. I was expecting you to ask for me to hand you the moon on a platter or something.”

“Oh...hah...cool,” said Kyle.

“Yeah, so...what did you have in mind?” asked Jeremy. “There any flicks out right now that you want to see? When do you leave for the PPDC, anyhow…?”

Kyle winced then, as if he just realized something. “Ah, well...that...see…”

Jeremy frowned. “What? What is it?”

Kyle gave his friend a sheepish smile. “Well...this is actually pretty short notice, I know, but...I leave tomorrow, Jack.”

He gave Jeremy a few moments for the information to settle in. Kyle knew it had when Jeremy’s expression darkened significantly.

“Say what?” Jeremy hissed. “Dude. Kyle. When were you going to tell me this, man?”

“Hey, I was going to tell you right away, I swear!” Kyle said, holding up his hands defensively. “It’s just that...as soon as I came, you started complaining at me about not having gone through the garage and calling you...and then before dinner we started talking about some other stuff and…”

“Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it,” Jeremy said, dismissing his friend’s recap with the wave of a hand. “It’s my bad. You probably would have told me if I hadn’t distracted you. Is that right?”

Kyle half-smiled and shrugged. “Yeah, sort of...more or less.”

The dark-haired man grunted. “All right. I’ll let you have that, given the circumstances...but shit…”

Jeremy let out a huge sigh and ran a hand through his black hair. “That doesn’t give us a whole hell of a lot of time now...does it? What time is it, do you know?”

Kyle shook his head. “Uh...hang on. Let me get my phone.”

Jeremy chuckled when Kyle slipped a hand into one of his pockets. He shook his head.

“No, dude, that’s all right, actually. There’s a clock right here, come to think of it,” Jeremy said as he leaned over Kyle to check the time off the radio clock that was sitting on a nightstand beside his bed.

He didn’t notice the slight hitch in the brunette’s breathing. Jeremy tilted the digital face towards himself.

“Hmm...eight forty-five,” Jeremy muttered. “Should be fine. We could probably still catch a show at like nine-thirty or something.”

He looked down at the brunette who was breathing shallowly underneath him. Jeremy tilted his head to the side.

“What do you think, man?” Jeremy asked. “Want to go see what’s playing down at the cineplex?”

A myriad of emotions flickered across Kyle’s face before he responded. “Oh, uh...yeah! Sure!”

Jeremy smiled and thumped Kyle playfully on the chest with the back of his hand. “Sounds good, man! Let me go grab my keys.”

With that, the dark-haired man bounced off the bed and went to the other side of his room to grab his keys and a cap for his head. He was too distracted to notice Kyle’s abashed state. The brunette almost jumped in surprise when Jeremy grinned over his shoulder at him.

“Well? What you sitting there for?” Jeremy asked. “We going to see a flick or what?”

“Ah…! Uh...yeah!” Kyle said, hopping off the bed.

Jeremy chuckled. “Well, come on, then!”

The dark-haired man’s father called out to them from the living room as the two young men thundered down the steps. _“Now where in the world are y’all in such a hurry to get to, boys?”_

Kyle chuckled when his best friend rolled his eyes. “Well we aren’t exactly going to be skipping town, if that’s what you’re worried about, old man.”

“ _So where you two headed?”_

“I swear to God…” Jeremy muttered under his breath before replying in a more audible tone. “We’re going to watch a movie; it’s Kyle’s last night.”

His father responded after a slight pause. _“Is it, now? All right. You boys have a good time.”_

“Yeah, we will Dad, thanks,” said Jeremy.

He playfully punched Kyle in the shoulder as the two of them walked out. The brunette laughed.

“Hey!”

“Hey yourself,” Jeremy said, shaking his head and pretending to look annoyed. “Wipe that smirk off your face, will you?”

“Can’t help it!” Kyle said, grinning widely. “It’s funny. You act like you can’t stand your parents, but we both know that’s not true.”

Jeremy frowned as he unlocked the car. The two men then climbed in.

“Seriously, Jack,” Kyle said teasingly as he buckled himself in. “You don’t have to try to look cool in front of me. I’m your best friend no matter what. There’s no need to impress.”

“Yeah, well if I was really so concerned about my image, I wouldn’t be taking you to some movie now, would I?” Jeremy grumbled, the tips of his ears turning red.

Kyle chuckled. “Ah...touché, my friend.”

“Hmph,” Jeremy grunted. “Now that we’ve got that settled...let’s go see what’s playing.”

Kyle laughed. “Yeah, all right. Fire her up!”

Jeremy’s lips quirked into a small smile as he started his truck’s engine. Soon after, the truck could be heard pealing out of the driveway.

On such short notice, the two young men arrived at the nearest theater at an odd hour, and as a result their selection was a bit limited. Their only options were to choose between a movie with a dance-battle theme that seemed to promise terrible acting with an extremely cheesy and predictable storyline, or a foreign flick where they’d have to put forth a little extra effort in paying attention to the story by reading the subtitles. To top things off, the foreign film happened to be a romance; Kyle figured this out when he did some research using his cell phone and the Internet.

Jeremy looked up at the times showing on a digital display above the box office and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Hm...well? Which one do you want to see?”

Kyle smiled at his friend sheepishly. “Eh...you know what? On second thought, we don’t really have to do this.”

The dark-haired man frowned. “What? Come on, man…! You want to watch one. It’s all right. I’m okay with either. I mean...we’re already here, right? So why not?”

Kyle wasn’t convinced. “Seriously...we don’t have to. Neither of ‘em really look any good anyway.”

Jeremy chuckled and jabbed a finger at the poster for the foreign film on display. “You sure about that, man? ‘Cause you were definitely eying that one.”

The brunette blushed furiously. “I...uh...you know...well...you hate reading. And that one’s going to have subtitles.”

“Honestly? Seems like the better option to me,” Jeremy said with a shrug. “I’m sure I can figure everything out from the acting, even if I don’t read the words.”

Kyle laughed. “Yeah, that’s true. At least there’ll be pictures for you.”

“Exactly,” said Jeremy. “So we good? That one okay?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said with a nod.

“Cool. I’ll get the tickets.”

“H-hey! Wait a sec,” said Kyle. “I can get my own.”

Jeremy placed a hand on Kyle’s chest and smiled at him over his shoulder. “Relax, Kyle. It’s not like they cost an arm and a leg. I’ve got this.”

The brunette smiled back shyly. “Thanks, Jack…”

“Don’t mention it.”

The dark-haired man missed his best friend’s appreciative staring as he was purchasing their tickets, since his back was turned. A few minutes later, the two of them were sitting in the row furthest back in the theater with a bag of popcorn to share held between them. Conveniently, they were only two of five patrons, scattered about the theater. Kyle looked over at Jeremy curiously when the dark-haired man let out a soft sigh when the previews started.

“What’s wrong, Jack?” Kyle whispered.

Jeremy inclined his head slightly in the brunette’s direction and raised an eyebrow at him, though his focus was still on the screen. “Hm…?”

Kyle half-smiled. “You just sighed. Didn’t you notice?”

“Huh…? Oh. Yeah...my bad,” Jeremy said with a small smile. “Guess I’m just feeling a little cramped. I don’t really go to the movies much...you mind if I stretch out?”

Kyle blinked at the question. “H-huh…? Stretch out? You mean like your arms?”

Jeremy snorted softly. “Well, yeah, what else? Eh...I guess it’d be nice to put my legs up too.”

“Oh...uh...well…sure!” Kyle said with a nod. “I don’t really see a problem with that. I mean...it’s not like there’s a bunch of people around to complain.”

Jeremy smiled. “Cool, thanks.”

Kyle was glad the room was dark, because his face felt as if it was on fire. Jeremy made soft grunting noises as he stretched out his arms and legs. Kyle knew the color of his face had probably especially deepened to a darker shade of red when he felt Jeremy rest his right arm alongside the top part of Kyle’s seat.

The brunette chanced a glance at his friend from the corner of his eye. “You comfortable now, Jack…?”

“Hm…? Ah, yeah. Much better,” Jeremy said with a nod.

He raised an eyebrow when he glanced briefly over at Kyle and the brunette quickly turned his head away. “Uh...you all right, man?”

“Fine…!” Kyle said, wincing inwardly at how squeaky his voice came out. “I, uh...I think the movie’s about to start.”

“What? Oh…” Jeremy said, a slight frown on his face when he returned his attention to the silver screen. “Yeah, looks like you’re right.”

“ _Thank God,”_ Kyle thought to himself as the opening credits began to roll and his best friend’s attention was successfully diverted.

He felt Jeremy settle back into his seat, and after a few moments, Kyle found himself becoming rather engrossed in the story. For the half-hour, he was so into it that he didn’t notice the look of amusement on his best friend’s face as Jeremy regarded the brunette with interest. He almost jumped sky high when the dark-haired man whispered with amusement in his ear.

“You really like this type of storyline, huh?” Jeremy said with an entertained smile. “Who knew.”

Luckily, Kyle had bit back his yelp and managed to whisper back a response. “Hey…! Let’s save the teasing for later, yeah? I’m trying to watch a movie here…!”

His best friend chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, all right. Sorry, dude.”

Kyle threw all his effort in reabsorbing himself into the story and ignoring the incredibly pounding in his chest. He wouldn’t feel brave enough to sneak a glance over at his best friend until about an hour later, when the movie was almost over. Kyle couldn’t help but laugh quietly upon seeing that at some point, his best friend had fallen asleep.

Suddenly losing all interest in the movie’s plot, Kyle found himself observing his best friend’s features in the dark. There was a brief moment where the brunette found himself extremely tempted to lean over the other man and steal a kiss, but Kyle quickly persuaded himself against it; he didn’t want to do anything surreptitiously. Instead, he settled for studying the steady rise and fall of his best friend’s chest and moved to wake him only after the movie had concluded.

With a little smile on his face, Kyle nudged his friend. “Psst. Hey, Jeremy.”

He chuckled when the dark-haired man let out a soft groan. “Nngh…”

“Hey, c’mon, man,” Kyle said, laughing lightly. “Get up. Movie’s over.”

“Ugh...what the hell…?” Jeremy mumbled as he stretched his limbs.

Kyle shook his head in amusement as Jeremy made a few more disgruntled noises and rubbed at his face with his hands. The brunette was able to suppress his desire to bestow affectionate gestures upon his best friend.

Jeremy blinked his eyes a few times to allow them to adjust before frowning at Kyle. “Fuck...is it over?”

“Yeah, it is,” Kyle said, chuckling. “It’s fine though.”

“Shit...I’m sorry man,” Jeremy said, shaking his head, mostly at himself. “I only meant to close my eyes for a second...you should’ve just woken me up!”

“Well, you looked like you needed the nap,” Kyle said, smiling. “My fault for having us out so late. Maybe I should be the one driving us back home? Here, give me the keys.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” Jeremy said, a stubborn look on his face. “Damn...if you weren’t leaving tomorrow, I’d find a way to make it up to you.”

Kyle laughed as the two of them got up and began to make their way out of the theater. “Seriously, man, it’s fine.”

“No it’s not,” Jeremy grumbled.

The brunette quirked an eyebrow, his eyes twinkled in amusement. “What are we, five again?”

Jeremy ran a hand through his black hair and sighed. “Whatever. Guess I’m dropping you off at your place?"

Kyle nodded. “Yeah. I should probably spend my last morning with my grandparents.”

Jeremy half-smiled. “Hm…”

The atmosphere in the car was much more subdued on their ride back home. Neither man was ready to say their farewells. Despite the gloominess, however, Kyle couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at some point upon recalling his best friend having been passed out beside him in the theater.

Jeremy eyed the brunette curiously and raised an eyebrow. “What’s so funny...?”

Still laughing, Kyle shook his head. “It’s nothing, man...nothing.”

“C’mon now, that ain’t fair,” Jeremy said with a slight frown. “I want in on the joke.   Let's  have it.”

Kyle was unsuccessful in forming a neutral expression; his lips quivered, unable to contain his amusement. “I don’t think you’d appreciate the punchline.”

The dark-haired man huffed. “I think you’d better let me be the judge of that.”

“You probably won’t understand it, but I’ll let you have it,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “If you so insist.”

Jeremy nodded once. “I do.”

“Stubborn ass,” Kyle said with fondness. “I was just remembering you being knocked out during the movie."

Jeremy scowled. “I knew it. You’re sore about that.”

“What? No!” Kyle said as he shook his head quickly. “No, that’s not it at all.”

“Yeah? Well, what is it then?” the dark-haired man asked.

Kyle sniggered. His best friend was pouting rather childishly. The brunette was sure that if Jeremy wasn’t driving, his friend would probably have his arms folded over his chest. Kyle debated for a couple seconds whether or not to say the first thing that had come to his mind before deciding that he would.

“Well, I mean I always knew you disliked reading,” Kyle said with a friendly grin. “But today I really got a chance to see to what degree.”

“Yeah, that makes me feel a whole heck of a lot better,” Jeremy muttered.

“Relax, Jack!” Kyle said, laughing as Jeremy turned his truck into Kyle’s grandparent’s driveway. “You’ve given me a funny memory to take along with me to the PPDC, so it’s all good.”

“Yeah, well...I’m still sorry,” Jeremy said as he placed his truck in park. “That was real shitty of me.”

“I’m telling you, don’t worry about it,” Kyle said, shaking his head.

The two men hopped out of the vehicle and Jeremy escorted his best friend up the steps of his home. Both stopped right before Kyle’s front door. The brunette looked at Jeremy with one hand placed on the doorknob. The dark-haired man rubbed at the back of his neck.

“So...I guess this is it then, huh?”

Kyle gave his friend a slight shrug. “Yeah...guess so.”

He smiled a little upon seeing Jeremy shove his hands in his pockets and glare at his feet with that trademark scowl of his. Kyle knew that meant the dark-haired man was trying to figure out what he wanted to say, and so Kyle waited patiently.

Finally, Jeremy lifted his eyes and met the brunette’s steady gaze. “I just want to say...good luck, I guess…"

Kyle would’ve been lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little disappointed by the dark-haired man’s words, but at the same time he knew better than to expect anything less awkward from his friend. Kyle gave Jeremy a reassuring smile, and the dark-haired man’s posture became more confident as a result.

“Thanks, Jack,” Kyle said, giving his friend a firm pat on the shoulder. “You go on ahead first, yeah…? I’ll see you off.”

Jeremy nodded. “Yeah...all right. G’night, Kyle.”

Kyle lifted a hand in a slight wave as Jeremy stepped off his front porch. “Right back at’cha, man.”

Jeremy cast him a small smile over his shoulder before getting back into his car. Kyle waited until his friend pulled away and drove completely out of sight before going inside of the house. Both men slept somewhat restlessly that night, and they were also up early the next day—Jeremy for construction work with his father and Kyle because of a phone call from Yancy. The brunette and dark-haired man would be unexpectedly reunited for a brief moment at the Becket household for breakfast later that morning.

“ _Hey! Rich!”_

Jeremy looked up from what he was working on when he heard his father’s hollering. He turned his head and followed the older man’s gaze. He noticed Yancy and Raleigh’s father sitting at a stoplight nearby where the two Daniels men were working with the windows of his red truck rolled down. He appeared as if he were in a hurry, and Jeremy frowned at the fact that the man didn’t even acknowledge his father. Perhaps Jeremy was being a little irrational, but he was pretty sure that Richard Becket had heard his father; Charlie Daniels knew how to shout—as a project leader, he had mastered the ability to make himself heard over noise at all different volumes.

His father tried a couple more times to grab the other man’s attention, but did so without success. The minute the light turned green, the red pickup truck that Yancy and Raleigh’s father was in zoomed off; the man driving never once looked back.

“Huh...well I’ll be,” Jeremy heard his father say to himself in a tone of mild confusion. “Wonder what all that was about.”

“I’ll say…” Jeremy thought to himself with a frown. “That was definitely strange.”

As if on cue, he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket, and Jeremy was hardly surprised when he saw it was Yancy calling him from his house. The dark-haired man answered it right away.

“Yancy?” Jeremy asked, even though he was already sure it was.

 _“Yeah,”_ Yancy confirmed.

The two exchanged a few quick words, and Jeremy wasn’t at all shocked to hear that Richard had abandoned his sons. After all, it seemed to fit exactly with what Jeremy and his father had just seen.

Jeremy wet his lower lip before asking his next question. “...everything alright with you guys over there, Yancy?”

The blonde’s sigh came through heavily from the other end. _“You know...if I’m going to be honest, that’s sort of the reason why I’m calling you right now, Jerry.”_

Jeremy shook his head, frowning. “Damn...yeah, I thought so. What’s going on then?”

“ _Long story short…Dad’s packed up and left...I’m pretty sure for good. Raleigh’s not doing so hot...and Kyle’s coming over to hang out for a bit. It’s his last day, you know?”_

“Last day? What are you talking abou—ohhhh...shiiiit,” said Jeremy.

Between throwing himself into work and the sudden distraction of seeing his friend’s father skip town, the fact that Kyle was going to be out of his tangible reach in a few hours had completely slipped Jeremy’s mind. He shook his head in self-disapproval.

“You guys were both supposed to head off to the Jaeger school today, right? Damn, man! I totally forgot.”

What Yancy said next made Jeremy’s chest feel a little tight. _“Yeah, well...given the circumstances, it looks like Kyle’s going to be taking off on his own after breakfast…”_

It really was happening, Jeremy realized. It shouldn’t have surprised him though, he knew. Kyle had always been dead set on joining the military. If the PPDC hadn’t happened, Jeremy was sure Kyle would have gone and joined the navy like his parents.

He exchanged a few more words with Yancy, but his thoughts were mostly centered around Kyle. Jeremy remembered the blonde mentioning that Kyle would be over at his house soon.

“You all meeting for breakfast now?” Jeremy asked.

“ _Yeah,”_ his friend replied. _“You’re welcome to come…! Well, I mean, if your old man’ll let you off work and all.”_

“Ah, yeah, that’d be great,” Jeremy said, perhaps a little too quickly. “Hang on, lemme check.”

He lowered his phone and placed a finger over the mic. Jeremy then turned in his father’s direction and shouted over to him.

“Heeey! Daaad! Can you c’mere a sec? I’ve gotta ask you somethin’.”

He saw his father nod from a short distance away. “Just one minute, son! I’ll be right there.”

“Okay,” said Jeremy.

His father gave a couple workers a few instructions before heading over to him. “All right now. What is it?”

“I’ll give you the short version,” said Jeremy.

His father nodded. “Go ahead.”

“It’s Yancy on the phone,” said Jeremy. “Said his father’s gone for good.”

His father nodded at him again. “Thought as much…the way Rich was just going like that...”

“Yeah…” said Jeremy. “Anyway, they’re making breakfast. Kyle’s going to be there too. Yancy’s not gonna join the PPDC anymore, but Kyle’s still going...he’ll be leaving right after, I think.”

“Well then, you’d better get on over there, don’t you think?” his father asked.

Jeremy gave his father a slight shrug. “I don’t know...that’s why I’m asking you.”

The older man chuckled. “Now come on, son...I should hope you know me well enough to know what my answer will be.”

Jeremy half-smiled. “Thanks, Dad…”

“Feel free to take the whole day,” Charlie said, clapping a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Be there for your friends.”

Jeremy nodded. He resumed his phone conversation after his father walked back to his work, and then after making arrangements to meet with his friends later, he returned to his tasks. Just before he could put some finishing touches on the portion of the project he had been working on, he heard his father call out to him again.

“ _Jeremy!”_

The dark-haired man looked up in his father’s direction curiously and raised an eyebrow. The older man was shaking his head.

“Didn’t I say you could be done for the day? What’re you still standing around here for?” his father asked.

Jeremy shook his head, confused. “I thought…?”

The older man frowned. “Don’t worry about what you’re working on—I’ll have someone take over for you. So go on, get! You’ve got to give Kyle a proper send-off now, don’t you?”

Jeremy’s mouth opened and closed several times like a fish. For an instant, he was at a loss for words. Finally, he was able to snap out of his stupor.

“A-ah...yeah, okay. You sure?” he asked.

“You implying I’ve got you on lockdown here?” his father tossed back with a grin.

Jeremy’s lips quirked at the corners in a small smile. “Got it. Thanks, Pops.”

Charlie chuckled as he watched his son scramble to gather the things he needed to take and look for his keys. His brows furrowed together slightly when his son hesitated just before climbing into his truck. He could tell Jeremy was looking at him, but at that point it was too far away to see the expression on his son’s face. Judging from his posture though, Charlie could sense that his son wanted to ask him a question. And perhaps it was his intuition as a parent, but Charlie was almost sure he knew what his son wanted to ask.

“ _Would you be mad if I joined the PPDC too, Dad?”_

A little sad perhaps, but no, Charlie thought, never upset or disappointed, for that matter. He and his wife had done plenty of late-night speculations about their son ever since he told them his two childhood friends were hell-bent on joining the PPDC. The two of them had almost expected for their son to come home one day and declare that he wanted to join the organization alongside his friends. They were actually surprised that Jeremy never did. There were times where each of them wondered if perhaps they should bring it up first instead. Times like now.

Charlie opened his mouth to say something, but it was too late—his son had already gotten into his truck and was rolling away from the construction site. Just like that, the moment had passed. An odd feeling settled in the older man’s gut.

“ _He’s a big boy, Charles,”_ his wife had said to him on several different occasions when they had been discussing their son. _“I’m sure he’ll say something to us if he really wants to go.”_

He’d been hanging onto that theory all this time. Now though, Charlie found that he was beginning to wonder if perhaps he and his wife had their son pegged all wrong. Their son had always been the fiercely loyal type, and Charlie was starting to think because of that, there was a chance that Jeremy wasn’t entirely making decisions for himself.

Neither Charlie nor his wife were so obstinate that they expected their son to continue working in construction if he suddenly felt like he was being called to do something else. Those words once again became lost, however, when one of Charlie’s employees called out to him so that they could ask a question, interrupting the older man’s train of thought and effectively distracting him from making a phone call to his son in that moment, which could have changed the entire course of events that followed.

Jeremy gave Yancy a call as soon as he went up the front steps of the Becket household. The blonde's familiar voice came through after a few rings.

“ _You outside, Jerry?”_

“Sure am,” said Jeremy.

“ _Well come on in! The door's open,”_ said Yancy. _“We're all in the kitchen. Kyle's here too.”_

“Didn't ask about Kyle,” said Jeremy.

“ _Oh...uh, well...”_

“Just messing with you, man,” Jeremy said with a slight chuckle. “See you all in a bit.”

Yancy spoke up again quickly before Jeremy could hang up the phone. _“Ah, hey, by the way...you mind locking up behind you when you come in?”_

The dark-haired man snorted. “Yeah, sure, man. Geez though. What would y'all have done if I was a murderer or something?”

“ _In **Anchorage**...? Come on, man.”_

“All right, fine,” Jeremy said as he stepped inside and locked the door behind him. “A burglar then.”

“ _Now that's more realistic,”_ Yancy said, and Jeremy could now simultaneously hear him from elsewhere in the house. _“Well, there's three of us here, and we're all pretty strong. We can handle ourselves.”_

“ _That Jack trying to give you a lecture?”_

Jeremy half-smiled upon hearing Kyle's voice and Yancy's reply. _“Yep...he's being an ass, like usual.”_

“ _Tell him to hurry up,”_ Jeremy recognized the voice as Raleigh's. _“I'm starving.”_

“ _Yeah, stop being lame and hang up the phone,”_ Kyle said with a laugh. _“You're inside now, so come to the kitchen and talk to us face-to-face like a normal person.”_

“Yeah, yeah...” Jeremy said just before hanging up the phone and stepping into the kitchen.

“About time, man!” said Yancy.

“Yeah, way to be late to the party,” said Raleigh. “It's Kyle's last day with us, you know? Gotta send him off properly.”

Jeremy's eyebrows furrowed together slightly. “Thought we were all gathering here for y'all...?”

Yancy's expression slightly sobered. “Hey...no need to be so serious, yeah? Rals and I will be fine.”

“Eh...yeah, my bad,” said Jeremy.

There was an empty seat to Kyle's right. Jeremy slipped quietly beside his friend and their eyes met briefly; both men turned their heads away from each other quickly.

Kyle pushed a plate and some utensils towards Jeremy, which the other man accepted gratefully. There was already some food picked out for him, and Jeremy didn't have to ask who had done it—all his favorite foods were there in portions he probably would have set for himself anyway, so Jeremy knew that the preparer of his plate could have been none other than Kyle.

The dark-haired man cleared his throat and muttered gruffly. “Thanks...”

Kyle's reply was soft. “Sure. No problem...”

Raleigh and Yancy observed the terse exchange with mild interest. There was no denying the tension between their guests.

It was an odd thing for the brothers to watch; Kyle and Jeremy seriously fighting with each other was a rare thing, and though no heated words had yet been exchanged, both Raleigh and Yancy could sense that a tempest was brewing between the pair. They could also tell that Kyle and Jeremy were doing their best to focus on providing them moral support, but the tightness in their conversation when they exchanged words with each other was something that did not go missed by the brothers.

The small talk had ended a short while ago, and for a moment the kitchen was filled with no sounds other than the occasional clinking of silverware. Eventually, Raleigh cleared his throat and dared to make the first attempt at starting a new conversation.

“So…” Raleigh began tentatively. “You excited about becoming a Jaeger pilot, Kyle?”

He immediately realized his mistake when Jeremy jabbed angrily at a piece of egg with his fork and Kyle eyed the other man nervously. Raleigh winced inwardly when his brother gave him a subtle look of disapproval. While his brother didn't say anything out loud, Yancy's expression said it all.

“ _Come on, Rals. You should know better than that,”_ his brother's look seemed to say. _“You know their situation.”_

They both did. Jeremy and Kyle were as inseparable as he and Yancy were. Raleigh had been so swept up in relief at the fact that Yancy was no longer going, that he had forgotten Jeremy was still in the same situation that he would have been, had their father not left them behind.

Luckily for everyone, especially Raleigh, Yancy was able to steer the conversation into a different direction. The older blonde pretended to be focused on cutting his pancakes.

“Actually, before we get to talking about that,” Yancy said, even though they all knew they wouldn't be circling back to the subject. “I've got something to ask you, Jerry.”

“Yeah? And what's that?” Jeremy asked, somewhat terse in his reply.

Yancy sighed. “Look...this isn't really easy for me to ask...”

That got the dark-haired man's attention. If there was anything that could effectively distract Jeremy from anything, it was a serious request. Kyle looked relieved and Raleigh relaxed. Jeremy took another bite from his plate and looked at Yancy with a raised eyebrow.

“ _Well?”_ he seemed to be asking.

The tension in the atmosphere seemed to ease, if only a little. Raleigh eyed his brother with curiosity as Yancy formulated his words carefully, trying to determine whether his brother was putting on an act to help defuse the situation or if he really was being genuinely serious in that moment. Given their history, Raleigh wished he could be absolutely certain which it was, but there were days like that one where he couldn't really tell, and that's what bothered him the most about his brother.

“My brother and I are going to need help,” Yancy said quietly. “With the house and all, now that our dad's gone...”

“Ah,” Jeremy said, nodding with understanding. “Don't worry about it, man. I'll let my folks know—I'm sure they'll try to help out in every way that they can.”

“Great. Thanks, man,” Yancy said with a small smile. “I owe you one.”

“Nah. Like I said, don't worry about it,” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “What are friends for, anyhow?”

The rest of the meal progressed a lot less awkwardly. Raleigh quickly redeemed himself by asking about a few of Jeremy's construction projects, which had the men engaged in conversation on that subject right up until Kyle's phone alarm went off in his pocket, alerting him that it was time to go.

There was a bit of a heavy silence at first as Kyle took a moment to shut off the alert. Afterward, he gave his friends a small, sheepish smile.

“Looks like it's time for me to head out, guys.”

Before Raleigh or Yancy could say anything in reply, Jeremy let his chair slide back with an obnoxious scraping sound on the Becket's kitchen floor. He then stretched his limbs and grunted while doing so before standing up completely.

“Whelp...” Jeremy let out as he simultaneously cracked his neck. “Guess I'll be back in a little while, guys.”

“Leaving too?” Raleigh asked.

“Didn't I say I'd be coming back?” Jeremy said before tilting his head in Kyle's direction. “Going to take this one to the airport.”

If the Beckets noticed the look of surprise on Kyle's face, they didn't show it. Raleigh blinked.

“A-ah...okay, yeah, that makes sense,” Raleigh said with a nod.

Kyle regarded Jeremy with an unreadable expression. “You sure about that, Jack...?”

Jeremy frowned. “Sure I'm sure. I brought my truck.”

“Rals and I will be fine, Kyle,” said Yancy.

“Yeah, Yance and I will be fine here,” Raleigh agreed with an encouraging nod. “Why don't you take him up on his offer?”

“I mean, unless you'd rather take a cab,” Jeremy muttered.

Kyle shook his head. “N-no! Y'all are right. As long as it's cool...”

“It is,” said Yancy.

“You know damn well I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't,” Jeremy added.

“Yeah, that's right, Kyle, you should,” Raleigh said with a small smile. “You of all people should know how Jeremy's mind works, inside and out.”

“All right, y'all... _all right_ ,” Kyle said, shaking his head and chuckling softly. “Y'all convinced me.”

“Good,” Jeremy said as he took his keys from his pocket and twirled them around his finger by the keyring. “Wouldn't want you to be late.”

There was no sarcasm in his words. No one made comment on the irony of the dark-haired man's statement.

“Drive safe,” said Yancy. “See you in a bit, Jerry?”

“Yeah, in a little while,” Jeremy said with a nod.

“Stay in touch guys,” said Kyle.

“We will, man, don't worry,” said Raleigh.

The house felt oddly still after the two men had left. Yancy got up from the table and began to clear it off. Raleigh rose from his seat as well in order to give his brother a hand.

“Think they'll be all right?” Raleigh asked casually while the two of them washed dishes.

“They'll be fine,” said Yancy. “Don't see why they wouldn't be. Those two have always been as thick as thieves.”

“Hm...” Raleigh hummed thoughtfully.

Yancy was right, he supposed, but Raleigh couldn't help but think about how distant he felt that Kyle and Jeremy had become with each other. It bothered him in the same way it had when he thought their group was going to fall apart after Yancy and Jeremy had gotten into an argument, years ago.

While lost in thought, Raleigh unconsciously ghosted his fingertips over one of his older brother's elbows. The minor action caused the older man's posture to grow rigid, and immediately Raleigh flinched away, retracting his hand. A small frown formed on his face.

All thoughts and concerns revolving around his brother's childhood friends were temporarily pushed to the back of Raleigh's mind. Worrying over others would have to wait for later. He and Yancy had their demons to conquer.

Meanwhile, the deafening silence only served to make the drive to the airport seem longer for the two men riding in Jeremy's truck. Kyle pretended to be looking out the window, but in actuality he was observing his best friend's face, trying to interpret what the other man could possibly be thinking. He was disheartened to find that he was having difficulty doing so; it had never been a problem for him before.

Finally, after several minutes of nothing but quiet in the car, Kyle took in a short breath and decided to take his chances. He turned his head towards his friend.

“Jeremy.”

The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow, but kept his eyes on the road. “Hm.”

Kyle shook his head, his expression sad. “...is this really how you want us to do this?”

Jeremy's grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Be clear, Kyle. You know I can't stand it when people beat around the bush.”

“Well, I can't stand it when you act like a total ass,” Kyle said with a frown.

“ _And when you're being stubborn as hell,”_ Kyle thought to himself, but didn't add.

Jeremy lifted a hand up from his steering wheel and sighed. “Tell me then. How should I be, Kyle. Huh?”

Kyle shook his head. “Dude. This is childish and you know it.”

He sighed when Jeremy didn't respond. Kyle ran a hand through his brown hair in frustration. There was a brief pause, and then both men spoke at the same time.

“ _Come with me._ ”

“ _Stay._ ”

Despite the situation, the two men shared a quiet laugh. This time, Jeremy let out a sigh.

“Look, man...” he started.

“I know, I know...” Kyle said dejectedly as he leaned back in his seat. “Your mind's set...”

“As yours is,” Jeremy said with a half-smile. “Listen, man...maybe...”

“Yeah...?” Kyle said, trying not to sound too hopeful.

“Maybe...I don't know...” Jeremy said with a sigh. “Maybe this is it for us.”

“What?” Kyle said, voice tight and a frown forming on his face. “Dude...what are you trying to say right now?”

“I'm _saying_...” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “Maybe this is as far as we go.”

“What, you mean as...as _friends_...?” Kyle asked incredulously, sitting up straighter in his seat. “ _Jeremy_. Don't you think that's a little extreme? Are you even listening to yourself right now?”

Jeremy gave his friend a slight shrug and looked away. “I mean...it's just... _I don't know_ , Kyle...”

“ _What_...?” Kyle asked softly. “What don't you know, Jack? What don't you get?”

The dark-haired man rubbed at the back of his neck. “Haven't you seen it, man? The older we get...the further we fall away from each other. I mean...then again, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.”

“And what do you mean by _that?_ ” Kyle asked tersely.

“Well, it's true, isn't it?” Jeremy said with a half-smile. “We were always meant to walk two different paths based on our backgrounds...weren't we?”

Kyle sighed in resignation. “If you'd just stop being so stubborn...”

Jeremy chuckled. “And you're telling me you aren't?”

When Kyle didn't say anything in response, Jeremy clapped a hand firmly on his friend's shoulder and shook his friend gently. “ _Kyle_.”

They were stopped at a traffic light. Glassy hazel eyes locked with Jeremy's unreadable greys. The dark-haired man moistened his lips before continuing.

“You know...for the better part of our lives, I've been protecting you,” said Jeremy. “But at some point, you stopped needing me to. And I'll admit it, when I first realized that, it threw me for a loop, and I've been trying to get used to it ever since.”

“So what's your point, Jack...?” Kyle asked softly.

Jeremy shook his head. “The fact is...I think this was inevitable for us. Construction was always in the cards for me just as much as joining the military was always going to be a part of your future. It was naïve of us to think that we were always going to be together through everything.”

“That doesn't mean we have to stop being friends,” said Kyle.

“Sure it doesn't, but...” Jeremy trailed off for a moment as he returned his attention to the road after the light turned green. “Let's just be realistic, yeah?”

“About what?” asked Kyle.

“Come on, man...!” said Jeremy. “How many times did you hear from your parents while they were on tour?”

Kyle frowned. “I'm not them, Jeremy.”

“Well, regardless...once you go, you're going to be making new friends,” said Jeremy. “You know how these things go. New environment, new situation...”

“Oh my God...!” Kyle said, his eyes widening in realization. “That's it, isn't it?!”

“What? What's it...?” Jeremy asked with a frown.

Kyle threw up his hands in disgust. “ _Unbelievable_ , Jeremy. You've always been like this. Ever since Yancy.”

Jeremy scowled. “Now what are you bringing _him_ up for? What's he got to do with this?”

“Because he's got _everything to do with this_ , Jeremy!” said Kyle. “Well, maybe not him personally, but what he stands for.”

“Yeah? And what's that?” asked Jeremy.

“Change,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “I've never understood why you've always been so resistant to it. Everyone's capable of adapting, Jeremy. You've just got to be willing to do it. Now I get it. That's why you won't join the PPDC.”

“I've got my obligations, Kyle.”

“ _Bullshit_ ,” the brunette said hotly back. “You know better than I do that your parents wouldn't stop you if you wanted to join up. You know they'd understand.”

“Look...I can't make everybody happy, okay?” Jeremy said tiredly. “It's not about being able to adapt to change or not, Kyle. It's about loyalty and personal morals. It's family first, for me, then friends. No matter how much I...”

Kyle frowned when the dark-haired man trailed off. He shook his head.

“What...?” he pressed gently. “No matter how much you... _what?_ ”

The muscles in Jeremy's jaw tightened. “Nothing. Never mind.”

“ _No matter how much I love you.”_ Those were the words that Jeremy left unsaid because he worried that to say them in that moment would have been ill-timed.

Kyle sighed. “Jeremy...”

“The point is...” Jeremy said softly. “Our worlds don't revolve around each other, man...maybe they did once, but we were kids then. Times have changed.”

“ _And I'm afraid,”_ Jeremy finished in his thoughts.

Pain flashed through Kyle's hazel eyes. “What. So you're saying we've outgrown each other or something, man?”

“Maybe...” Jeremy said with a small sigh. “Or at the very least, you have.”

The brunette's lips pressed into a firm line. Kyle placed a hand on his forehead, which was feeling warm.

“ _How the hell did we get into such an argument...?”_ he thought to himself. _“This is so fucked.”_

Jeremy eventually pulled his truck into the parking lot of a small, local airport. After shutting off the engine, he turned his head towards the brunette.

“So what time's your flight?”

Kyle checked the time on his cell phone. “...in about an hour.”

“Okay,” said Jeremy.

An uneasy silence settled between the two men. The standoff was brief. Finally, Jeremy cleared his throat.

“Well...guess it's time for you to go, then...” he said. “Wouldn't want you to miss your flight.”

Kyle was slow to respond. “...yeah.”

“Need a hand?” Jeremy asked.

“Nah...that's all right,” Kyle said with a small sigh. “I'll be fine...I've got this.”

Jeremy nodded. “Okay.”

Kyle unbuckled his seatbelt. “Can I ask you something though...?”

“Sure, man,” Jeremy said with a slight shrug. “What is it?”

“Why do you feel the need to push me away?” Kyle asked softly. “I...I just want to understand.”

Jeremy opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. There were just too many reasons to list. Though he had said otherwise, he had never imagined that one day he and Kyle really would grow up to lead separate lives. He was, perhaps stupidly, split between honoring his longtime promise to his father and following his best friend into the ranks so that he could continue with his unofficial yet mutually recognized role of protecting Kyle, even if the brunette was far from needing it anymore. In the end, he closed his mouth and pressed his lips into a firm line, unable to say a thing.

Kyle sighed and ran some fingers through his hair. “So that's your answer then...I see.”

He popped open his door and reached behind the seat for his stuff. He dropped his bags onto the ground before jumping out of Jeremy's truck.

Just before his friend shut the door, Jeremy called out to him. “Hey, Kyle.”

The brunette looked up at him, his hazel eyes were cloudy. “What's up...?”

Jeremy held up an object in his hand. Kyle found himself lifting his hand automatically in response. His eyes widened slightly in surprise as he barely caught the object that was tossed in his direction. The brunette's hand closed over the object before he opened it up, palm facing upward so he could look at what he was thrown. It was Jeremy's butane lighter; the one he always carried with him. Kyle looked up at his friend, his expression unreadable.

“You take care of yourself...all right?” Jeremy said softly.

Kyle nodded. “...right back at'cha, man.”

The thud of the door when the brunette pushed it shut gave both men a hollow feeling inside themselves. Jeremy watched Kyle walk away from him with a heavy heart, and the brunette clutched the lighter his friend had just given him tightly in his right hand.

When Kyle went completely out of sight, Jeremy started his truck and drove away. Almost at the escalator, the brunette dropped all his bags and turned around, running back outside to where Jeremy had been just moments before. At the last minute he had thought about giving the dark-haired man a small token in return for his lighter, and he felt his heart drop to the floor upon seeing that the other man was no longer anywhere in sight.

For a long time, he stared blankly at the expanse before him, thinking a million thoughts and then thinking about nothing at all. After what seemed like an eternity, though in reality it had only been just a few minutes, he turned around once more and went back inside. Fortunately, his bags remained where he had left them, untouched. He picked them up and proceeded to the gate printed on his ticket. It wasn't until after he had gotten on board the plane that the thought occurred to him that he probably should have called.

Unbeknownst to the brunette, Jeremy had parked his truck at the highest point he could with a clear view of the airport. He got out of the truck and leaned against its hood, lighting up a cigarette with a regular store-brand lighter. He checked the time on his watch and then took a long drag of his cigarette whilst looking up towards the sky. Of course, he had no way of knowing which plane was Kyle's, but when a plane flew overhead at around the time Jeremy supposed that Kyle would be on board, he closed his eyes and brought his cigarette back to his mouth. He pressed his fingers against his lips before simultaneously blowing out a puff of smoke and raising his arm upward. Even with no one watching, Jeremy didn't want to appear as if he were blowing a kiss. He'd sooner dig his own grave than be pegged for a sentimentalist. After all, he had a manly image to keep.

“ _You stay safe for me, Kyle,”_ Jeremy thought to himself before finishing off his cigarette.

He chuckled drily to himself as he climbed back into his truck. Jeremy shook his head and heaved a huge sigh as he started up the engine. Try as he might, he couldn't seem to find the right word to describe how he was feeling at the moment. Not that it ultimately mattered, he supposed, but still, he thought it would've been nice. He settled for describing it as a father sending his beloved son off to war—which wasn't entirely accurate, but it was close enough to what he was feeling.

That night became the first of many restless nights for him. Kyle fared no better.

Upon arriving at the Kodiak Island Jaeger Academy, Kyle was briefly introduced to his mentor before being ushered to his dorm room. He found out that, since he didn't come with any friends or family, he wouldn't be given a roommate until after he was paired off with someone who would be his co-pilot.

That evening, he hardly got any sleep. The first day or so was dedicated to orientation of the facilities and a brief overview of what candidates were expected to learn. About the third day, Kyle was introduced to the Kwoon. That was when and where he first met his future co-pilot, Ethan Bentley.

When he first laid eyes on the other man, Kyle had done a double-take. At first glance, Ethan looked so much like Jeremy that for a split second, Kyle's heart fluttered with hope and he wondered if the dark-haired man had changed his mind after all and followed him to the academy. Upon closer inspection though, he realized that it wasn't the case; though both men were quite chiseled, Ethan appeared to be more cut, which wasn't surprising given the fact that he was a military man. In addition, while Jeremy was also quite sturdy in build, his muscles were a bit more subtly defined. The difference between the color of their eyes was the other stark contrast. Whereas the tint of Jeremy's irises fluctuated from a subtle hint of blue or green mixed in with his grey to a very stormy grey, depending on his mood, Ethan's were decidedly a sharp emerald green that only shifted in the intensity of their shade and not their overall color.

Despite the—what he thought were, anyway—noticeable differences between the two men, and after overcoming his initial disappointment of finding out that Jeremy had not followed him to the academy, Kyle came to the decision that he would try to obtain Ethan as a co-pilot at all costs. Which was why, as soon as the opportunity presented itself, Kyle boldly walked up to the sparring instructor and requested a match with Ethan. Both the instructor and Ethan were surprised, as that was not how things were usually done; it had been explained during orientation that candidates would be assigned potential co-pilots in the Kwoon based on an algorithm developed by PPDC scientists. However, Kyle's request had caught the instructor somewhat off-guard, just enough so that he was willing to grant the request. Ethan, initially, had been staring elsewhere, perhaps daydreaming. His head had snapped up though upon hearing his name.

“Ethan Bentley. Please step forward,” the instructor said while scribbling some notes on the clipboard he was holding. “Your sparring partner will be Kyle Hunter.”

Kyle heard his heart pound loudly in his ears as he stepped onto the sparring mat and readied himself. The man named Ethan, who had appeared quite aloof just moments before, was now eying him with mild interest.

“Gentlemen! Are you ready?” the instructor asked.

“Yes, sir!” Kyle said as he got into position.

Something flickered in the other man's eyes that Kyle didn't recognize. The corners of Ethan's lips twitched upward slightly in amusement as he too got into a ready stance.

“Yes, _sir_ ,” Ethan said less forcefully than Kyle had.

Kyle bit down gently on his tongue to help himself concentrate on not blushing. From the corner of his eye, he could see the instructor nodding.

“Very well then. You may begin.”

Ethan was quick, but Kyle was faster—apparently the brunette had picked up a useful trick or two from Jeremy that he applied to the first round. Kyle won. Ethan wasn't furious, but from the change in his posture when he got back up from the floor made it clear to Kyle that the other man was planning on taking him more seriously in the next round.

Kyle's thoughts were in a whirl after their second round, because Ethan had surprised him with his precise movements and control. The two men were locked in a brief staring contest when their eyes met after Ethan had managed to get past his defense and hold his rod over Kyle's skull. The brunette's lips parted slightly; he had stopped himself just short of letting out a possibly inappropriately-timed whistle of respect.

“ _Military bloodline like me,”_ Kyle thought to himself. _“Has to be.”_

It explained the discipline in the other man's movements, and the way Ethan's eyes seemed to be moving constantly in an intentional way; scanning for information, not reading emotions. In seconds, they were at it again.

“ _Guess his folks were around more often to show him the ropes,”_ Kyle thought somewhat ruefully, taking note of the other man's form.

He may have had the upper hand in the beginning, but Ethan was clearly the more practiced soldier. In seconds, the other man had successfully gotten Kyle onto his back and the practice bar pointed at the center of the brunette's chest.

“ _Shit,”_ Kyle thought.

Not because of the loss, per sé. The concept of loss, Kyle could handle with grace. It was what losing meant in this context, however, that got to him. Ethan had bested him two-to-one. In order to become co-pilots, the score needed to be even-split. That meant that each of them should have won alternate rounds, not one person winning two in quick succession.

The brunette quickly bounced back onto his feet after Ethan backed off and began to walk away. Kyle spoke up before the instructor could say anything.

“Wait!”

Ethan turned around and regarded Kyle with a confused expression on his face. The instructor gave the brunette a similar look.

“Problem, Mr. Hunter?” the man holding the clipboard asked.

“I...just...just once more,” said Kyle. “Please, sir. I'd like one more chance to spar with Mr. Bentley.”

The instructor frowned at him. Up until that point, no one had ever requested a rematch let alone ask for a one-on-one match with someone they weren't assigned to in the first place.

“Well, I don't think—”

“If it's all the same to you, sir,” Ethan said, smoothly cutting into the instructor's sentence. “I've no objection to a rematch.”

The older gentleman huffed, looking a bit ruffled. He scribbled a few more notes down onto his clipboard.

“Fine. Just once more,” the instructor said finally, looking pointedly at Kyle before addressing the rest of the class. “No more exceptions...and that includes the whole lot of you. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” said Kyle. “Thank you, sir.”

The rest of the candidates in the room all murmured some form of similar assent. The instructor then wrote a few more notes onto his clipboard.

“Good, very good. Well then,” the instructor said, taking several steps back. “You have permission to begin again, gentlemen.”

Ethan tilted his chin in a slight upward nod as he addressed Kyle. “Last name's Hunter, right?”

Kyle nodded as he got into a ready position. “Yeah, it is. What of it?”

“Your parents in the military too, by any chance?” Ethan asked. “Or at least one of them?”

“Both,” Kyle said, somewhat proudly. “Navy.”

“Ah...” Ethan said with a small smile. “Martin and Charlotte Hunter, by any chance?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said with a slight frown. “How'd you know...?”

“They're well-known in our circle,” said Ethan.

“What circle?” Kyle asked.

Just then, the instructor cut in. “Gentlemen! Are we sparring or are we socializing?”

“Apologies, sir,” said Ethan.

“Sorry, sir,” said Kyle.

Ethan tossed one of the rods used for practice over to Kyle. “Here. We can continue this as we go.”

Kyle nodded. “All right.”

“Begin!” said the instructor.

Again, Kyle started off strong. He found an opening at Ethan's side and let the pole linger just above where he could have landed the blow.

Ethan chuckled. “Where'd you get your spirit, anyhow?”

They began again. Once again, Ethan easily overpowered the brunette the second time. Kyle grimaced.

“From a friend back home,” said Kyle.

Ethan cocked an eyebrow. “Parents didn't keep you on base?”

Kyle shrugged a shoulder as they went at it again. “Nah. Lived most of my life as a civilian.”

“No wonder,” said Ethan.

“Thought you knew everything?” Kyle said with mild sarcasm.

Ethan's green eyes twinkled with amusement. “Oh ho. This one's got bite.”

Kyle frowned when he realized Ethan conceded at the last minute to allow him the next point. “Hey.”

“You didn't grow up a brat on base,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “So you don't know. It's not all about overpowering your opponent, not between Jaeger pilots. It's about balance. Don't worry—I don't plan to go easy on the next one.”

Kyle grunted. “Hmph.”

Sure enough, Ethan took the next point, making the score between them even two points each. The instructor scratched a few more things onto the paper attached to his clipboard and nodded.

“Very good, gentlemen. That will be all.”

Ethan and Kyle nodded at each other before simultaneously lowering the sparring bars. The instructor made some more approving noises and jotted several more things down on his clipboard. While awaiting the man's comments, Ethan and Kyle continued their conversation.

“So how do you know my parents but have no idea who I am?” asked Kyle. “And why haven't I heard anything about you?”

“I knew they had a son,” said Ethan. “I just never put two-and-two together until just a short while ago. Your parents have established quite the respectable reputation in the ranks here for traditional soldiers. They have the respect of the Legacies.”

Kyle's eyebrows furrowed together. “Wait a minute. So you're...?”

“Probably exactly what you're thinking,” Ethan said with a nod. “I'm Fifteenth Generation. There's plenty other military brats around whose bloodlines date further back than mine.”

Kyle blinked. “Wow.”

Ethan half-smiled and gave the brunette a slight shrug. “Not really all it's cracked up to be though. Trust me.”

For a moment, Kyle was stunned. He had been told by his parents before, on maybe one or two of their visits, about the unspoken class warfare within the military. Legacies were, for the most part, people who typically came from two different camps; either they were individuals sent by their families as a mandatory obligation to serve their country with honor before returning home in order to secure their inheritance, or they were children of families who made a career of serving in the military, wearing their family's history of service on their sleeves like a status symbol. Regardless of their origin, Legacies usually came from extremely wealthy backgrounds.

Kyle noted that Ethan had mentioned he was “Fifteenth Generation.” That meant that Ethan was a privileged young man most likely from the second camp. The first tended to view things more as a tradition than a dedicated way of life, and therefore didn't tend to focus on the years their family had held such a title.

The brunette shook his head at Ethan. “Still though...that's amazing.”

“Eh, I'd like to think that we're all still brothers on equal footing,” Ethan said, giving Kyle another slight shrug. “After all, we all live by the same words. Ready to lead, ready to follow.”

“Never quit,” Kyle finished for him.

Ethan grinned. “That's exactly right.”

Kyle smiled back. The instructor interrupted at that moment to hand them both a slip of paper telling them what they already knew. They were now officially assigned to each other as co-pilots. Consequently, they were now also roommates. The pair were dismissed shortly after being given their assignment.

“Well, guess now would be the best time to move all your things over,” Ethan said as the two of them walked back towards the dorms.

“Over where?” Kyle asked.

Ethan chuckled. “To my dorm room. Where else? Trust me. You'll like it a lot better in the Legacy wing.”

“Not all it's cracked up to be, huh?” Kyle said with a wry smile.

Ethan held up his hands defensively. “Hey. I just meant about the part where we have to attend events like those stuffy parties where we have to put on airs for our family and friends. I never said it didn't come without its perks.”

Kyle laughed. “Whatever, man.”

“So where's your room at?” asked Ethan.

“Follow me,” said Kyle.

When they got to his room, Kyle took a few moments to pack up his possessions, of which there weren't many. Ethan stood by silently, scanning the room. His eyes settled on an object sitting on top of the brunette's desk. It was the lighter Jeremy had given Kyle as a parting gift. Just as Ethan was about to reach out for it, Kyle surprised him by beating him to the punch, placing a hand over the object.

“Ah, my bad,” Ethan said, placing his outstretched hand behind his neck and scratching it. “Good luck charm?”

Kyle half-smiled and slipped the lighter in his pocket. “...something like that.”

“Okay,” Ethan said as he turned his attention to Kyle's packed bags. “Well...is that it?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said with a nod.

“All right. Then let's go,” said Ethan. “Need me to take anything?”

Kyle shook his head. “Nah. I got it. Lead the way.”

“Okay.”

Several minutes later, they were in Ethan's quarters, which were considerably more lavish than the standard dorm. Kyle raised an eyebrow as he set his bags down and looked around. Ethan's room boasted more space than a standard issue dorm room, and the overall interior design was far more upscale and modern.

“ _Almost unnecessary,”_ he could almost hear Jeremy say, and then amend. _“No. I take that back. **Definitely** unnecessary. **Extremely**.”_

Ethan's amused words broke into his thoughts. “You need me to pinch you or something? Just so you know that this is real?”

Kyle chuckled and shook his head. “Way to be modest, man.”

Ethan gave the brunette a slight shrug. “Hey, I'm not going to pretend it isn't comfortable. Anyway, make yourself at home. This is your room now too.”

Kyle nodded. “Thanks...”

Ethan observed the brunette quietly as the other man began to unpack his things. A few hours ago, he had been internally second-guessing his decision to be the first in his family to serve in a branch other than the navy. Now here he was, sitting across from the man who would be his Jaeger co-pilot once they graduated and got to the Shatterdome. Ethan supposed it was a plus that he found the other man interesting, mostly because of how the other man had insisted on their being assigned to each other.

“So what was that all about, anyway?” Ethan finally said aloud.

Kyle turned around and looked at the other man with a confused expression on his face. “Pardon?”

“Ah...sorry,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “Guess I should've probably given you some context. I'm talking about what went down in the Kwoon.”

“Oh...” Kyle said, slowly understand. “That.”

“Yeah,” said Ethan. “So? I was just wondering why you seemed so adamant about becoming co-pilots.”

Kyle grimaced. “Well...”

“Listen, man,” Ethan said with a chuckle. “If you don't want to tell me, it's fine.”

“It...it is?” Kyle asked hesitantly.

Ethan nodded. “Yeah, it is...but just remember one thing though.”

“Yeah? And what's that?” Kyle asked.

“It might not be tomorrow, but it'll definitely be soon,” said Ethan. “They'll be having us run Drivesuit simulations. You know what that means, right?”

“ _Oh yeah...the **Drift** ,”_ Kyle thought to himself, groaning inwardly. _“That's right. I totally forgot about that.”_

Amusement flickered on Ethan's face as he found Kyle's answer within his expression. “Listen, I'll try not to look, but...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious.”

Kyle sighed. “Well, if it's all the same to you...I think I'll be taking my chances.”

“All right. Suit yourself,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Lights out, then?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said with a nod. “Sounds good.”

The two men then settled on their respective beds. Kyle looked over at Ethan curiously. Ethan looked over at him and grinned.

“You settled?”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah...uh, you?”

“Sure am,” said Ethan.

Kyle got back up in his bed partway. “Um...you want me to go turn off the lights then?”

“What? Oh, no,” Ethan said with a laugh. “Remember those perks that we were talking about earlier? Well, this is one of them.”

He leaned back in his bed and pressed an icon on the digital screen beside his bed. Ethan placed a hand behind his head and spoke up towards the ceiling.

“Lights out please, Mel,” said Ethan.

A digitized female voice responded from some small speakers overhead that Kyle hadn't recognized before. _“Very well, Ethan.”_

“Thank you,” Ethan said with a small smile.

Kyle blinked as the room went completely dark. When it did, he uttered the words without thinking.

“What the hell...?”

He blushed when he heard Ethan chuckle from the other side. “Convenient, isn't it? You can do it too. Just hit the blue icon that says 'command' and tell her to do something.”

“Her?” Kyle asked.

“The A.I.,” said Ethan.

“You named her?”

“Yup,” Ethan said with a small laugh. “That's how you get her to do something. You say her name. That's how I programmed it, anyway.”

Kyle quirked an eyebrow. “What else can she do?”

“Oh, just the basics, really,” said Ethan. “Flush the toilet, start the shower, alert medical if you need something, place an order from mess...”

“They deliver food here?” Kyle asked incredulously.

“Well, just the Legacies. Some of us, like me, honestly prefer to keep to ourselves. Personally, I've never really been much for a huge crowd; probably because of all those awful parties our parents made us go to while we were growing up,” said Ethan. “A lot more of us though, unfortunately, think that they are better than the rest of society and simply don't want to associate with who they consider to be 'lesser folk.' I like to avoid them as well.”

“Huh,” said Kyle. “Interesting.”

“Yeah,” said Ethan.

“...so why Mel?” Kyle asked. “I mean...if it's all right to ask.”

Ethan chuckled softly. “Well...wouldn't you like to know, eh? Guess we've both got our secrets we'd like to keep hidden in the Drift.”

“Hm. Yeah...” said Kyle.

Ethan sighed. “Well...guess we'll see whose got the bigger secret.”

“What do you mean?” Kyle asked.

“Ah. I guess I only know this because I read ahead on the materials we were given,” said Ethan. “In one of the academy's textbooks, it says that the strongest memories are the ones that surface first in the Drift, and they're also the ones that are likely to throw Jaeger pilots out of alignment.”

“Huh. Interesting,” said Kyle.

“Yeah,” Ethan agreed. “So my theory, is whichever of us feels like they have the bigger secret to hide, that's the one that's going to pop out first.”

Kyle wrapped his covers a bit more tightly around himself. “Hm...”

“Anyway...guess we'd better get some rest,” said Ethan.

“Yeah. Sleep well,” said Kyle.

“You too,” said Ethan. “Goodnight.”

Shortly after, the two men fell asleep. They were two of the first to start Drivesuit training the next day.

Kyle took a deep breath as he got into the Drivesuit simulation gear. Once he was outfitted, Kyle's hands fidgeted at his side. Ethan looked over at him and chuckled.

“Relax, Ranger,” he said. “Just remember that the key to the Drift is silence, and you should be fine.”

“Silence?” asked Kyle. “What do you mean?”

“I _mean_ just don't think a thing,” said Ethan.

The voice of a Shatterdome technician buzzed in over their heads. _“Gentlemen...! Are you ready?”_

“Yup, we're good here,” Ethan said, nodding at Kyle. “We're good, right?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said with a nod. “We're fine.”

“Great,” said Ethan. “Now remember...”

“The Drift is silence,” said Kyle. “Yeah. I gotcha.”

“Good.”

“ _Gentlemen! Neural handshake simulation commencing in three...two...one...”_

Kyle didn't even have a chance to think of an expletive as he was suddenly thrust into the Drift. It was an overwhelming sensation for him as a whole slew of memories cascaded by him. Somewhere in the distance, he thought he could faintly hear Ethan's exclamations of surprise. The Drift was, indeed, a very interesting place.

“ _Very blue,”_ Kyle noted to himself. _“And quiet.”_

The minute he thought that, however, the scenery changed. It took him a moment to realize where he was.

 _He was driving along a road with some classic rock playing in the background._ Or rather, Kyle quickly realized, he wasn't the one driving; he was the passenger. Upon closer inspection, he found that he recognized the interior of the vehicle he was riding in.

His heart fluttered when a familiar deep voice filled his ears. _“What you thinking so hard about, anyhow?”_

Kyle turned his head and felt as if his heart were lodged in his throat. Staring back at him were a pair of grey eyes belonging to a man whom he missed very much. Jeremy's face was much younger than Kyle remembered him to be when he left, and it was then that Kyle realized he was reliving an old memory. This conversation was from the summer of their junior year in high school. They were in Jeremy's truck, on the way to one of Kyle's school friend's house parties. While Kyle remembered that part of the memory, he couldn't recall what he had been thinking about in the moment when Jeremy had asked him that question. Perhaps he could have about a week ago, before coming to Jaeger Academy. Now, he was just so glad to even catch a glimpse of his longtime friend that the rest of the memory fell away into irrelevance. Somewhere in the distance he heard a voice tell him not to “chase the rabbit,” but Kyle ignored it.

“ _Well...quit making your face all screwed up like that,”_ Jeremy said, chuckling at whatever Kyle's reply had been back then. _“Don't want to get wrinkles prematurely, yeah?”_

“Yeah...” Kyle said to the mirage of his friend with a small laugh. “God, I miss you...”

“ _Huh. Well that sure explains a lot, eh?”_

Kyle blinked when another voice suddenly cut into his thoughts. He turned his head upon hearing the rear window slide open. Ethan was sitting in the back of Jeremy's truck. Immediately heat rose in Kyle's cheeks.

“Ethan! Where did you come from?” Kyle gasped.

The other man laughed. “I don't know, really. I haven't gotten to _that_ part of the reading yet—just one minute I'm looking over at you in reality, and then the next minute, I find myself here. You look totally shell-shocked out there, by the way.”

“Do I...?” Kyle asked, chuckling weakly.

“Yeah,” said Ethan. “So...”

Kyle shrugged his shoulders slightly. “So...?”

The other man tilted his chin towards Jeremy. “That my long-lost twin over there or you been fantasizing about me since we got partnered up?”

Kyle felt his face grow warmer. Ethan half-smiled.

“Well...! Judging from your reaction, I'd say it's the former and not the latter,” said Ethan. “I sure did a double-take when I first got a good look at him.”

“Yeah, well I'd say that was pretty much the same reaction I had when I first saw you...” Kyle mumbled.

Ethan nodded, like he had thought as much. “I see. Yeah. I can believe that.”

“If I'm going to be truly honest...when I first saw you...there was a moment where I really thought he had,” said Kyle. “Joined the PPDC, I mean...for a minute I was really excited. No offense or anything.”

He added that last part quickly. Ethan chuckled.

“No worries,” he said. “I think I can understand.”

Kyle half-smiled. “Thanks...”

“So,” said Ethan. “Who is he? Friend? Boyfriend...?”

Kyle jumped at the second suggestion. His face turned beet red as Ethan threw his head back and laughed.

“W-w-what's so funny?” Kyle stuttered. “Jeremy's a f-friend...! _Of course_ he's a friend...!”

“Yeah, man... _of course_ ,” Ethan said with a small smile shortly after his laughter subsided. “Relax, Kyle. I'm not exactly homophobic, you know. In fact, one of my best friends from back home just happens to be gay.”

“W-well Jeremy and I are not dating,” Kyle said. “And that's the honest truth.”

“Really?” Ethan asked, tilting his head as he looked between Kyle and his memory of Jeremy. “Interesting...I always thought I was pretty good about picking up on that sort of thing.”

“Well...I mean...you're not _totally_ off,” Kyle said, squirming uncomfortably in his seat. “I admit that _I'm_ gay...”

“Ah, but your friend's not. Is that what you're saying, Kyle?” Ethan asked.

Kyle nodded. “Yeah...”

“ _Unfortunately...”_ Kyle added in his thoughts.

Ethan chuckled. “You know...might as well just say everything out loud, man. I can hear it all right now. We're in the Drift, remember?”

“Ah...! That's right...!” Kyle said, becoming even more flustered. “I totally forgot...”

The other man laughed at him. “Eh, that's all right. Just force of habit, I guess.”

“Yeah...” Kyle agreed.

“So?” Ethan said, giving the brunette an easygoing smile. “Want to tell me more about him?”

Kyle blushed. “Uh...do you even really want to know?”

“Sure. Why not?” Ethan said with a shrug. “We're co-pilots, right? That means we've not only got to trust each other, as Jaeger pilots, it's to our advantage to know our partners inside and out...or have you not been paying attention during lecture?”

Kyle's lips tugged upward at the corners, forming a tiny smile. “...so might as well start somewhere?”

“Exactly what I'm saying,” Ethan said, nodding and pointing in Jeremy's direction. “And I'm getting the sense that he's been a central point in your life, so I figure you telling me about this guy is as good a place to start as any."

“Hm...”

Ethan shrugged. “Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to tell me anything.”

“Nah, it's all right,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “What exactly do you want to know?”

“I don't know...! He's _your_ friend!” Ethan said, laughing. “Seriously though, are you sure he's straight? Because I sure don't make eyes like that with my guy friends.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Kyle asked, a look of confusion forming on his face as he glanced over at his conjured up version of Jeremy. “I don't think I've ever noticed anything strange about the way he looks at me.”

“That's because love is blind,” Ethan said with a grin. “Believe me, I know. Took me _years_ to figure out Melanie was giving me flirtatious eyes.”

“Melanie...” Kyle murmured. “That the girl the A.I. of our room is named after?”

“Ah...you caught me,” Ethan said with a small smile. “Guilty as charged. She's the girl next door I grew up as friends with. Never once thought to look at her any other way until about high school. By then, I hear she'd already been crushing on me for several years.”

Kyle chuckled. “So what happened then?”

“Hm? What do you mean 'what happened'?” Ethan asked.

“Well, did you get with her?” Kyle asked.

“Ah...well, that...” Ethan laughed softly. “Now that's where things get a little complicated.”

“How's that?” asked Kyle.

“Well now, let's see...” Ethan said as he looked off into the distance for a moment. “Mind you, this was all five years ago, so I was a whole lot stupider back then. Decided to join the military straight out of high school, much like yourself. Thought she'd be mighty impressed when I came back a man.”

“Okay,” said Kyle. “And then?”

“Well, we were young,” Ethan said with a slight shrug. “She was sixteen, I was eighteen...I had only just asked her out about five months before I left, even though at that point I had already known about her feelings for at least a year. I was a fool to think we were both mature enough to do the whole long-distance thing.”

“Ah...so y'all broke up then...?” Kyle asked with a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah,” Ethan said with a nod. “But it turned out the way it was supposed to, I think.”

Before Kyle could ask what the other man meant by that, the scenery around them changed to that of a huge dining room. He found himself seated beside his co-pilot, who was staring at the two people holding hands across from them; one man and one woman. The young man looked an awful lot like he could be Ethan's brother.

“He is,” Ethan confirmed. “His name is Jason. Same age as Mel. They should both be twenty-one right about now; I'm two years older.”

“Ah,” was all Kyle managed to say.

Ethan chuckled and motioned towards the woman and his brother. “See, this was the day Jayce—that's what I call him—decided to tell me he was planning on leaving his share of the family fortune behind to start a family with Mel.”

Kyle frowned. “Were you two still together at the time?”

“Who, Mel and I? Nah,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “This memory's from about a year after we had called it quits.”

“Oh,” said Kyle. “And your brother...?”

“Had absolutely zero interest in joining the military,” said Ethan. “He and I have always butted heads over that. See...Jayce has never had an interest in rules and regulations.”

Almost as if on cue, that was when the memory of his brother spoke up. _“I'm really sorry about this, bro, but I'm sure you knew this was coming.”_

“ _Jason...!”_ the woman beside Ethan's brother gasped.

“ _Sorry...I guess I should have clarified. I meant about upholding our family tradition,”_ the young man said, shaking his head. _“Not about Mel. Definitely not about Mel.”_

Ethan snorted softly at that. Kyle looked over at the other man curiously.

“Nah, sorry...” Ethan said, chuckling and shaking his head. “It's just, no matter how many times I play the memory back over in my mind, it really doesn't sound like anything other than a load of bull.”

Kyle half-smiled. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm inclined to agree, although probably not for the same reasons as you.”

“Hm...probably not,” Ethan agreed. “Fact is, Jayce has always felt this need to compete with me. I could never quite figure out why. I mean, I never tried to make him feel like he was less than me or anything.”

Kyle shrugged. “Sometimes people just turn out that way, I guess.”

“Hah...ain't that the truth...” said Ethan. “Don't get me wrong, I love my little brother to death, but I can't say I've ever fully understood him. It got to the point where his one-sided...whatever it is he thinks this is. Regardless, it's one-sided. Anyway...it just got to the point where he made it his life's mission to do everything the opposite of whatever I was doing.”

“Like joining the PPDC?” asked Kyle.

“Like joining the _military_ ,” Ethan corrected. “This conversation was actually took place several months before the first attack happened.”

“Ah,” said Kyle.

“Yeah. Anyway, long story short...my brother did what he set out to do,” Ethan said with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. “Left our world behind, got started on his own...”

“Got the girl...” Kyle said drily.

“Got the girl,” Ethan agreed with a soft chuckle. “Married her, in fact.”

“Damn,” Kyle said with a half-smile. “Sorry.”

“Nah, it's all right,” said Ethan. “Despite his hot-headed nature, my brother's a good man. I'll admit, it took a while, but I'm glad the one Mel chose after me was him. I mean what more can I ask for, right? The two people I love most are together.”

Kyle shook his head in wonder. “How do you do it, man?”

“I just pour my energy into this job,” Ethan said with a shrug. “I really do love what we do here—wouldn't trade it for the world, honestly. Besides...there'll always be others, eh?”

“I don't know...” Kyle said with a small smile. “Sometimes there's only just one.”

Ethan whistled. “Well then this guy must really be something.”

Kyle laughed warmly, fondly thinking of his friend. “Yeah...he really is. I think you'd like him if you met him.”

“Hah. I bet I would,” Ethan agreed. “The way you talk about him has got me intrigued. What's his name again?”

“Jeremy,” said Kyle. “But I call him Jack.”

“Only when you're not mad, right?” Ethan asked, grinning. “When you are, it's _Jeremy_.”

Kyle knew from the way Ethan's eyes twinkled that the other man must have picked up on that fact from the Drift. He smiled back.

“Cheater.”

“Hey, I can't help if you're thinking it.”

Kyle laughed. “All right. I'll give you that point.”

“So why Jack?” Ethan asked.

“Daniels,” said Kyle.

“What?” Ethan asked, raising an eyebrow. “I'm not sure I follow. We playing one of those word games all of a sudden?”

“No, not like that!” Kyle said, laughing a little bit harder. “I mean that's his last name. Daniels.”

“Huh? Oh...” Ethan said, suddenly understanding. “Oh I see what you did there, man. That's actually kind of clever.”

“Thanks.”

“So?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah?”

Ethan laughed. “Come on, man. I told you what happened to mine, right? Don't you think it's only fair if you tell me how yours panned out?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kyle said somewhat sheepishly. “I guess you're right. It's not a very interesting story though.”

Ethan half-smiled. “Come on, man. Couldn't be much worse than mine.”

“Yeah...I guess you're right about that too,” Kyle said with a small laugh. “Sorry.”

“Hey, it is what it is,” Ethan said with a dismissive wave. “So tell me how it all went down.”

“Well, we've been friends a long time,” said Kyle. “Since kindergarten.”

“That sure is a long time,” Ethan agreed. “Best friends?”

Kyle smiled. “ _Inseparable_.”

“I believe it,” said Ethan.

Kyle laughed. “I'd be lying if I said I didn't force myself onto him at first though.”

“Ah...! A bold pursuer of the heart, I like that,” Ethan said with a grin.

Kyle shook his head. “Shut up, man.”

“You're right. I'm sorry,” said Ethan. “I'm being a terrible listener.”

“That's all right. Most boys are,” Kyle said, a look of amusement on his face.

“Okay, I'll take that,” Ethan said with a nod.

“Long story short,” said Kyle. “We grew up and went our separate ways. I chose the PPDC and he chose construction. He's planning on taking over the family business.”

“Hm...I see,” Ethan said, appearing to be somewhat lost in thought. “...this was recent, I take it?”

“Yeah,” said Kyle. “Anyway...you're taking this rather well.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? What do you mean?”

Kyle shrugged. “I mean...I don't know. I guess I just didn't expect a total stranger to be so open to talking about gay relationships.”

“Hey, our thoughts are completely exposed to each other now,” said Ethan. “I think that's hardly grounds for calling each other strangers.”

“Touché,” Kyle said with a nod. “But I stand by the rest of my statement.”

“Well...remember that gay friend I told you about earlier?” Ethan asked.

“Remotely,” Kyle admitted.

“All right, well...his name's Nathaniel,” said Ethan. “Nathaniel Crawford.”

“Okay...?” said Kyle. “And...am I supposed to know this Nathaniel Crawford?”

“Hm? Oh...no, not really, I mean, not unless you're really into indie movies,” Ethan said, rubbing at the back of his neck. 

Kyle raised an eyebrow. “He's a movie star?”

Ethan nodded. “Still a rising one though, so it's not surprising that you haven't heard of him.” 

“Oh.” 

“I've full confidence he'll be well-known in a few years,” said Ethan. “He's quite talented.  Anyway...he and I have been friends probably just as long as you and Jeremy have.  Actually...maybe a little longer than you and Jeremy have. How old were you when you said you met him again?” 

“We were both five,” said Kyle. 

“Ah. Yeah. Then he and I have _definitely_ known each other longer than the two of you have,” Ethan said with a small smile. “Nate and I are what some people would probably call diaper babies.”

“Oh,” said Kyle. “Wow.” 

“Yeah,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Courtesy of our parents, of course. That's how high society works, you know. You keep it all 'in the family,' so to speak. Our families have been friends for generations." 

“Sounds restricting,” said Kyle.

“And you are absolutely right. It _is_ ,” said Ethan. “Nate and I got lucky though—we got along just fine from the get-go.” 

“So...?” 

“Oh! The reason why I mentioned that, right,” Ethan said with a laugh. “Well...for the longest time, nobody knew he was gay. I mean, at that time, I was so sheltered, I don't think I even fully grasped the concept of what gay was.” 

“When did he come out?” Kyle asked. 

“Oh...I'd say right around high school,” said Ethan. “Perfect timing, too. Sure, the family disowned him, but that also meant he was no longer expected to fulfill their expectations.” 

“About joining the military, you mean?” asked Kyle. 

“Yes,” said Ethan. “Honestly, if you ask me, Nate was never really suited for this life. I'm glad he ended up pursuing his life's passion.”

“You mean acting?”

“What else?” Ethan asked with a grin. 

“Don't be an ass,” Kyle said before bringing a hand up to his mouth and furiously blushing. “Ah...sorry! I mean...!” 

“Nah, don't worry about it,” Ethan said, laughing and shaking his head. “You know though, I think I might actually be picking up some of this Jeremy's personality traits.” 

“But you've never even met him,” Kyle said, looking confused. “And I've never Drifted with him.” 

Ethan shook his head. “Doesn't matter. You remember him clearly and have a vivid enough imagination where I think I'm just picking things up about him from you. Probably helps that I know he and I look like we could be related too.” 

Kyle smiled. “Yeah....”

“Not that I didn't have an idea before, but after connecting with you in the Drift like this, I seriously can understand it,” said Ethan. “Why you initially mistook me for him. I get it.” 

“It's not too weird...?” Kyle asked. 

“Nah,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “It's all right. We're good.” 

“Cool,” Kyle said with a nod. 

“Anyway, shoot...” Ethan said while scanning their surroundings. “How long have we been under, anyhow? Shouldn't we be like fighting digital projections of Kaiju or something?” 

“Ah...well...I remember vaguely hearing someone say something about not chasing the rabbit, if that helps,” Kyle said sheepishly.

“Oh! Yeah, I remember reading about this,” said Ethan. “Quick. Both of us need to think about waking back up in our bodies in the Drivesuit simulation room.” 

“Yeah, okay,” Kyle said with a nod. “I'm ready.” 

“All right, let's do this!” 

In an instant, both men felt as if they were being practically thrust back into reality. Immediately their ears were assaulted with a myriad of sounds.

“ _Wait! Everyone hold it! I think they're back!”_  

“ _Affirmative, sir! I'm getting a positive reading. Neural handshake successfully established.”_  

“ _Well, about damn time! **Finally!** ”_ 

“ _Cancel the simulation! It's obvious these two won't be getting to that today.”_  

“ _Christ...! How many pairs are still left in the queue?”_  

“ _At least eleven...these two really held us up.”_  

“ _Goddammit..! I'm about to go have a word with them...!”_  

Ethan shook his head to clear it and then chuckled while turning to look over at his co-pilot. Kyle looked just as dazed as the older man felt. 

“Hey...” Ethan said when their eyes finally met. 

“Hey,” Kyle said back while briefly scanning their surroundings. “Well...! Looks our little detour in the Drift's the cause for all the ruckus going on out here, huh?” 

“Sure looks like it,” Ethan said with a grimace. “Five bucks says we're in for a stern lecture from Captain Uni-brow over there.” 

Kyle looked over at the Shatterdome technician headed their way who appeared to be a little purple in the face. He looked back over at Ethan. 

“That ain't a fair bet, man,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “No contest.” 

Before the other man could reply, the technician approached them. “ _Gentlemen_...! Mind explaining what exactly happened to the both of you in there?”

“Ah, well, you see, sir...” Ethan began, but stopped as soon as the technician began shaking his head furiously. 

“No, no, no! _Mr. Bentley_ ,” the man said. “That was a rhetorical question, not an invitation for excuses! I expected far more out of you, given your background. You of all people should not have allowed your partner to chase the rabbit, let alone go along with him for the ride.”

“Why didn't someone hit the override button, then?” Ethan asked.

Kyle raised an eyebrow. He wasn't completely familiar with all the ins and outs of Drifting yet. He noticed Ethan shake his head as subtly as possible.

“ _Later,”_ his expression seemed to say. _“Just sit tight for now, man. I've got this.”_

The eyebrow lowered. Kyle decided to let his co-pilot take the lead. After all, he didn't think anything he could do would produce any better results, not if Ethan's attempts to try and appease the Drivesuit instructor only served to make the man's face grow a darker shade of purple with each shot he took.

“Despite the fact that the two of you were running around in there, wasting time,” the technician said, shaking his head. “You were both mentally stable. Neural overrides are only meant for emergencies, like if a pilot's memories caused them to be outwardly destructive.”

“Ah,” Ethan said, both his eyebrows rising. “I didn't know about that.”

Their instructor shook his head and frowned. “It's a contingency plan, Mr. Bentley. It's not something to be abused.”

“Yes, well...now I understand,” Ethan said, sounding rather genuine. “If I may ask, what were our stats?”

“The nerve of you Legacy lot. I swear, if it weren't for all the money your families throw into our programs...” their irate instructor muttered before raising his voice to a more acceptable volume. “Your connection was strong. The two of you are most compatible. However, you spent a full twenty minutes chasing rabbits, and you didn't even make it to the Kaiju simulation...and that's the whole point of this exercise!”

“Yes, well...it won't happen again, sir, I swear it,” Ethan said, nodding solemnly.

It took all Kyle had to stifle his laughter. The last thing either of them needed was this Shatterdome technician to blow a gasket; not that it looked like the man really needed much more of a push to do so, anyway.

The instructor huffed. “Damn right you won't! You will both study your textbooks thoroughly and come to practice tomorrow with a serious mindset. Dismissed!”

The two men managed to hold in their laughter until they got out into the hall and were well out of hearing range of their flustered supervisors. Several of their fellow cadets looked at them strangely as the two of them staggered past, holding their stomachs.

“Holy hell,” Kyle said as they neared their dorm room. “That man was so pissed...!”

“Yeah, did you see his face?” Ethan said, wheezing. “Looked just like a plum!”

“You're telling me!” Kyle said, turning red in the face.

Upon reaching their room, the two of them thundered in and went straight for their respective beds, almost simultaneously collapsing on top of them. Kyle was the first to get a bit of control over his laughter.

“Oh man though...” Kyle said, in between ragged breaths. “You all right?”

“Huh...?” Ethan said, turning over onto his side to face Kyle. “Yeah, I'm fine. What do you mean? Why wouldn't I be all right?”

“I don't know...” Kyle said, sobering. “Just the comments he made about you being Legacy...sounded like more of an insult than a respectable title.”

“Eh, don't worry about stuff like that,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “That's common.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow. “It is?”

“Most people like us are used to it,” Ethan said with a slight shrug. “Honestly, it's probably a good thing that they're so hard on us.”

“Yeah?” asked Kyle.

“Yeah,” Ethan affirmed. “Keeps the cocky ones in line and makes anyone who isn't upper class focus on why it's so much better being a regular person with reasonable expectations placed on them. It's all a head game, Kyle.”

“Ah...I get it,” said Kyle. “I think...”

Ethan nodded. “Yeah, you probably do.”

Kyle turned over onto his back and let out a huge breath of air. “Phew, well I'm beat...you?”

“Same here,” said Ethan. “It's been a pretty long day.”

“It sure has,” Kyle agreed. “...you ready for lights out?”

“Sure,” said Ethan. “Want to give asking Mel a try?”

“Why not,” Kyle said before glancing at the digital screen beside him. “I just press the command icon, right?”

“You got it!” said Ethan. “Should be blue.”

“It is,” Kyle confirmed before tapping the digital object on his screen. “Lights off please, Mel.”

“Very good, sir,” the A.I. voice replied. “And what is your name? I do not recognize it.”

Kyle looked over at Ethan, who gave him a nod of encouragement.

“It's just trying to register you as a new tenant,” Ethan explained. “From now on, only you and I are the ones able to command her.”

“Ah, okay,” said Kyle. “The name's Kyle Hunter, Mel.”

“Very good, Mr. Kyle Hunter,” said the disembodied female voice. “You are now registered as second tenant of this room. All vacancies are filled and the registry is now closed.”

“Excellent,” Ethan said as the lights began to dim. “You sleep tight, partner.”

“Right back at'cha, man,” said Kyle.

For a moment, there was a brief silence. Then, Ethan turned his head in Kyle's direction and craned his neck slightly.

“Psst. Hey, Kyle...!” Ethan whispered softly. “You still with me, man...?”

“Hm...? Yeah...” Kyle mumbled tiredly. “For the moment. What's up...?”

“Listen...I was wondering...”

“Yeah...?”

Ethan turned back over onto his back and clasped his hands over his stomach. “Hope you don't think this is too weird of me to ask, but...you think you might like to be brothers...?”

Kyle frowned slightly and angled his head towards the other man's direction. “Say what...?”

“Well, honestly...I think I just kind of miss being an older brother,” Ethan said with a slight shrug. “Jayce and I don't really talk much these days, and you may be a few years younger than my brother is, but...”

“Ah...yeah, I gotcha,” Kyle said with a smile smile. “Yeah, man. That's all right.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said with a nod. “We're cool.”

Ethan chuckled. “Well, that's great. Thanks, man.”

“No,” Kyle said, letting out a small contented sigh and his eyes fluttering as he began to fall asleep. “Thank _you_.”


	6. Nostalgia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was absolutely flattered to discover that there are three subscribers and one individual who bookmarked this fic! Even though it's totally almost entirely focused on my OC's in this universe!! Not to mention 22 kudos as of this chapter? Seriously, people out there might think me goofy for thinking so, but I truly never would have imagined such a response. I thank all these readers for their support! 
> 
> I've sort of developed this cycle where this fic (along with my other work-in-progress) are rotated along with any new prompts I decide to fill, which is why the chapters take so long to get updated. It's definitely not due to lack of inspiration, and I've been itching to write the next chapter for this fic so badly! Glad I finally get to do it now! Hope you all enjoy it! Thanks for sticking with me! :)

“ _Wow._ ”

Kyle blinked, astounded by what he was seeing around him. He heard Ethan chuckle in amusement beside him.

He felt more than saw his co-pilot shrug a shoulder. “Eh, you get used to it.”

Kyle turned to give Ethan an incredulous look and saw the smile dancing on the other man's lips. The brunette shook his head.

“ _Seriously_ , man?” Kyle said with mild exasperation. “Is that even a joke?”

Ethan laughed, his eyes twinkling. “What, should I be bragging then?”

Kyle scrunched his nose. “Well, _no_ , but...”

“But what?” Ethan said, lifting an amused brow.

“I mean _look at this!_ ” Kyle said, waving dramatically at the scenery around them. “You _live_ here?”

“I did, yes, at one point in my life,” Ethan said, still grinning. “I live on base now, as you know.”

“Oh _come on_ now, don't be a pain,” Kyle groaned. “Anyway...most people grow up in _homes_. This is a fucking mansion.”

Ethan coughed. “It is.”

“On a remote patch of land that looks like an island.”

Ethan nodded once. “Yup.”

“Except it's not _completely_ an island, because part of it is still attached to the mainland.”

The corners of Ethan's lips twitched upward. “Astute observation.”

“Shut up,” Kyle said, pretending to sulk, but even his eyes were sparkling now, betraying how he really felt about the view. “You guys even have your own private lake!”

“You want me to deny it?” Ethan asked, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I could take you there to visit sometime, if you'd like.”

“Yes! Wait...what? No!” Kyle said with a frown, shaking his head. “No, no.”

“You sure, man?” Ethan asked, still smiling. “My folks won't mind. They haven't seen me in a while, actually, so they'd probably be really happy to see me. We could all go the next time we're allowed to take leave. You could even bring your friend along from back home, if you want.”

Kyle's next words resounded loudly in the form of a thought. _“Dude, if_ _Jeremy_ _saw all this he'd fucking_ _ **shit**_ _himself.”_

Ethan could tell the words were meant more as an inner monologue, but he couldn't help replying. “Well, from all you've told me and shown me about him, I'd say that that's a pretty accurate statement.”

When Kyle blushed at his response, the color went straight to his ears. “Uh...”

“I know,” Ethan said, clapping a hand on one of Kyle's shoulders. “I wasn't supposed to hear that. _Relax_. Not going to hold it against you.”

Kyle rubbed at his nose and cast his eyes downward as he mumbled. “Thanks, man...”

“Don't mention it,” Ethan said with a chuckle. “Really though, it's not that big a deal.”

“Says the man who grew up on the edge of paradise,” Kyle muttered affably.

They were Drifting. One of the many benefits of having a Legacy as a co-pilot, Kyle discovered quickly, was the number of resources available to them. Among them was the accessibility of a private Drift simulator, although it was built much smaller and had limited functions in comparison to a standard-issue model.

It was a general expectation for Jaeger pilots to get to know their partners through conducting Drift sessions with each other regularly, especially early on in the partnership, before a team's first assignment. The main purpose, of course, was for co-pilots to get to know each other better and become comfortable with working together. Trust was key to effectively piloting a Jaeger, and eliminating any chance of surprises popping up in the Drift was usually the difference between a team's victory or defeat in the field. The more open teammates were with one another, the better chance they had in piloting a Jaeger as one mind and one body.

Kyle had been unaware of the personal Drift simulator at first until Ethan mentioned it one day in passing, not too long after their first trial run. It had come up during a conversation where they had been discussing how to avoid chasing rabbits and ticking off instructors the next time they were due to run through a supervised simulation.

“Well there's always the portable Drift tech,” Ethan had said casually.

Kyle had raised an eyebrow at this statement. The two men were sitting across from each other on their respective beds. Kyle was sitting cross-legged on his while Ethan had his legs stretched out, his back leaning against the wall.

“Portable Drift tech?” Kyle asked with a small frown. “Can't say I've heard of anything like that before.”

“It's a privately funded resource...” Ethan said, looking slightly abashed.

“Ah,” Kyle said with a nod, quickly understanding. “Another one of those Legacy assets, yeah?”

“Just a suggestion,” said Ethan. “We don't have to use it.”

“No...no,” Kyle said, shaking his head, brows furrowed in concentration. “Actually, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea. Tell me more about it?”

“Sure,” Ethan said with a slight shrug. “It's easy enough to set up—small enough to fit in the middle of the room...probably wise to break it down each time we're done using it. Don't want to trip over it in the middle of the night or something, you know?”

“You mean _you'd_ rather cut down on any chance of stubbing your toe on the way to the bathroom,” Kyle said with a slight smirk. “ _I'm_ on the right side of things.”

“Ch. You caught me,” Ethan said with a laugh.

“Don't worry though, I'll help with the pitching and cleaning of it,” said Kyle. “So go on. Anything else? Is it the same exact thing, just smaller?”

“Mm...almost,” said Ethan. “It's more for team-building purposes; not so much Kaiju fighting. In fact, if memory serves, that part of the program isn't even loaded into the portable tech. Probably takes up too much space or something.”

“Huh. I guess that makes sense,” Kyle said, his expression becoming contemplative. “So...”

Ethan arched an eyebrow. “So?”

“I don't know,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “I guess our first session together from a few days ago has got me to wondering...”

“Yeah?”

“Well, if we got better at this whole Drifting business, then theoretically we should not only be able to filter, but also be able to steer our thoughts and memories to what we want them to, right?” asked Kyle.

“Mm...yeah, sounds about right,” Ethan said with a nod. “Why? You've got something in mind?”

“Yeah,” Kyle had said then with a small smile. “I think I do.”

And at the brunette's suggestion, Ethan put in a request for a portable Drift simulator, and as soon as they received the technology, the two men went to work. First, they started with Kyle's memories. The younger man was pretty open about his past, and Ethan had to admire the brunette's willingness to share so freely.

Eventually they learned that there was a way to sort of manipulate memories so that they were depopulated of any projections of people and allowed for the two of them to explore the scenery of each memory without needless distractions. It was this discovery that inspired Ethan to open up and share certain aspects of his own past.

“So...how long has it been since you've last gone back?” Kyle asked the older man at some point as they were going through different places from Ethan's childhood.

Ethan shrugged. “Haven't exactly been keeping track of the days...it's been a long time though.”

“Mm...I see,” Kyle said with a nod. “You don't keep in touch with anyone at all?”

“No, I do,” said Ethan. “Nate and I still talk.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” said Ethan. “We write to each other pretty regularly...I'm always shocked at how much he has to say to me every week. He somehow comes up with pages and pages of stuff while he's lucky if I can even get out more than a couple paragraphs to give back to him. I don't think he minds though.”

“You write to each other every week?” asked Kyle.

“Sure do,” Ethan said with a laugh. “Can't complain, really. The man keeps me updated on everything back home.”

“Wow,” said Kyle. “That's some dedication.”

“Eh, it's really not that different from how it used to be when we were just a short drive away from each other,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Nate would always be over at my house or I'd head on over to his and we'd just catch up, talk about things. We'd see each other just about every day when we were kids. It got cut down to about twice a week when we got older—not because we didn't want to see each other anymore or anything; things just got busy. Life just got a little more demanding with responsibilities. You know how it goes.”

“Mm...yeah...” Kyle said, his eyes downcast.

“Hey. At least you and your friend somehow managed to keep up the daily meets until just before you joined up here,” Ethan said with a half-smile, clapping a hand on the brunette's shoulder. “I don't think Nate and I could have ever managed that. Must be nice to have all that youthful exuberance.”

“Yeah, well, it all kind of fell apart in the end though,” Kyle said, his expression darkening.

Ethan chuckled softly. “Well I wouldn't lose all hope like that so soon though, yeah?”

“What do you mean?” Kyle asked, looking over at the other man.

Ethan smiled warmly, his eyes kind. “What, you think Nate and I never once had a falling out between us ourselves?”

Kyle blinked. “W-well, the way you talk about him...?”

“Like nothing has ever stood in our way before? Like our friendship has always been about sunshine and daisies?” Ethan said with a laugh. “Come on, man. Let's be realistic. What good friendship hasn't had it's fair share of bumps in the road? The important thing is figuring out how to get through it. Find a plan that works almost every time and stick to it.”

“So you and him have fought often?” Kyle asked.

“Well...not often, no,” Ethan admitted, shaking his head. “But he and I are pretty night and day too, you know.”

“I guess I couldn't really tell, based on what you've shown me so far, anyway,” said Kyle.

“True,” Ethan said, nodding. “Most of the memories I've shown you were the positive ones.”

“It's all right if you don't want to share,” said Kyle. “I understand.”

“Nah, it's all right,” said Ethan. “As I said before, we might not have had a lot of blow outs...but when we did, it was usually over something big.”

“Oh yeah?” Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow. “Like what?”

Ethan snorted softly. “Why don't I just show you? I'll take you down memory lane back to probably the first significant fight between us, ever.”

“Probably?” Kyle asked with a small smile.

“You know what? If you ever get a chance to meet Nate, I have a feeling you and him would get along just fine,” Ethan said, shaking his head in amusement. “You two are damn alike in some ways.”

“ _Hah_...! I could say the same about you and Jeremy,” said Kyle.

“Bet you could,” Ethan agreed. “I'm sure that's why we get along so well.”

Kyle smirked. “Probably.”

“ _Anyway_...” said Ethan. “If we're going to be getting all specific-like, then fine. It's definitely possible this wasn't our first ever fight, but it's definitely the first one that stands out in my mind.”

“That a fact?” Kyle asked, but it was clearly a rhetorical question. “Must've been some argument.”

“Well, remember when I told you I wasn't all that aware of what the concept of being gay was?” asked Ethan.

Kyle nodded. “Yeah, I remember. What's that got to do with anything though?”

Ethan shook his head. “Man...if you haven't put two-and-two together yet, then I suggest you just sit back and watch; it'll all make itself clear in a second.”

Kyle shrugged. “If you say so.”

“I do,” said Ethan. “Now hush.”

And Kyle did. He could feel what he could only describe as Ethan concentrating and tugging at strands in the Drift; soon the scenery around them transformed into a place Kyle recognized only because Ethan had shown it to the brunette as a place where he and his childhood friend Nathaniel liked to run off to sometimes while they were growing up. Kyle tilted his head to one side as he regarded the two young men that were sitting beside each other before him.

“ _This was when we were in our junior year of high school,”_ Ethan helpfully mentally supplied.

“ _And this was your first fight?”_ Kyle asked curiously.

“ _First one I remember at least, yeah,”_ Ethan confirmed.

“ _Well, damn...! I'd say y'all did pretty well for yourselves then,”_ said Kyle.

Ethan chuckled. _“Yeah...I suppose so.”_

Right after he said that, the memory sequence began. Kyle listened quietly as the dialogue started up between Ethan and his friend.

The two young men were seated atop a hill. Nathaniel had his legs stretched out before him, holding the upper half of his body with his palms as he sat leaned slightly back. His head was turned to watch Ethan, who had one leg stretched out and the other propped up at the knee. One of Ethan's arms hung loosely around his bent leg as he whittled at a stick with a carver.

Nathaniel shook his head, a tiny smile on his lips. “You've got a blade obsession, you know that?”

“ _Hm_...” Ethan hummed absently in response.

One of his eyebrows quirked up only slightly in the barest hints of acknowledgment of his friend's words; Ethan appeared to be otherwise completely absorbed in his task. Nathaniel shook his head once more.

“Seriously, it's such a waste,” said Nathaniel. “You're just going to end up throwing it in the water anyhow. You always do.”

“That's because they never turn out right...I'd keep them if they did,” Ethan said before turning his head, giving his friend a brief glance and a smile. “Thought I wasn't listening at all, didn't you?”

Kyle couldn't help the laughter that escaped him when he saw how Nathaniel's cheeks grew rosy when Ethan winked at him before returning his focus to what he was working on. He was sure Ethan could hear the amusement in his projected thought.

“ _Oh, he had it bad for you, man...you seriously couldn't tell?”_

He heard Ethan snort. _“Well I know that_ _ **now**_ _, obviously.”_

“ _Were you really that sheltered?”_

“ _If by sheltered you mean I wasn't really thinking about anyone in romantic terms, then yeah, I was.”_

“ _Geez._ _You were a natural-born flirt then, it seems,_ _”_ Kyle said, shaking his head. _“_ _Totally unfair. Poor guy. My heart goes out to him. I can see why he fell for you, though.”_

“ _Can you...? Thanks, I guess,”_ Ethan replied with a laugh. _“To be fair though, I wasn't aware about Mel's feelings either back then.”_

“ _Ugh. Terrible.”_

“ _Hey,_ _in my defense,_ _I learned real quick though, after this,”_ said Ethan. _“Honestly_ _though_ _, if it weren't for what Nate did for me back then, I probably still would've been living in the dark.”_

“ _Huh? What do you mean?”_ Kyle asked.

“ _Hah. You'll see in a minute.”_

As if on cue, Kyle watched as the memory version of Ethan stopped chiseling at the wood and taking a second to observe it. He then made a small disapproving noise to himself before letting it fly out of his hand towards the water, just like Nathaniel had predicted he would.

Nathaniel laughed at the same time ask Kyle made a disapproving sound. “Called it. Knew you were going to do that.”

“Hey, that was a lucky coincidence,” Ethan insisted. “I aim for perfection. I should have picked something easier to shape.”

“Yeah, I'll believe that when you finally decide to keep one and take it home.”

Kyle snorted softly. _“Hate to say it, but I'm with_ _your friend_ _there_ _on that one._ _”_

He smiled upon hearing Ethan's groan. _“All right, I admit it. I'm a little OCD...so sue me.”_

“ _Clearly,”_ said Kyle. _“Don't worry, I have a feeling your friend knew that too. I didn't know wood carving was a pastime of yours, though. You still do it?”_

Ethan chuckled. _“Do you see any wood around here?”_

“ _Ah...hah...good point.”_

The brunette could feel his co-pilot's amusement. _“Haven't in years.”_

Kyle was going to say something else but was distracted when he noticed the way Nathaniel was suddenly looking at Ethan. Kyle felt more than saw Ethan nod.

“ _Yup, and here it comes...”_

The Ethan from the memory was now lying down on the grass, one arm tucked behind his head as he let out a noisy exhale. Nathaniel glanced down fondly at him and chuckled softly.

“Say, Ethan...?”

Ethan looked over at his friend and smiled. “Yeah? What's up, Nate?”

“Listen...” Nathaniel said, wetting his lips nervously and suddenly looking a bit uncomfortable. “There's something I wanted to tell you...you know, before I tell anyone else...”

“All right...?” Ethan said, arching an eyebrow and shrugging his shoulders slightly. “Go ahead, shoot.”

“I like you,” Nathaniel said quickly.

Ethan blinked, looking confused for a moment before he broke out into an easygoing grin. “What? Is that all? Well, I already know that.”

Nathaniel frowned. “Y-you do...?”

“Yeah, of course I do,” Ethan said, confusion slowly returning in his expression. “I thought you already knew that, man. I like you too. We're best friends, aren't we?”

Kyle found himself groaning at the same time Nathaniel did in the memory. He didn't blame Ethan's friend for looking like he wanted to smack a hand to his forehead.

Nathaniel sighed. “Not...quite what I'm trying to say.”

Ethan blinked and propped himself up at the elbows. “Huh? Then what, Nate?”

What happened next occurred so quickly, Kyle almost missed the chance to react. He felt his eyes widen and his lips round in surprise as he watched Nathaniel lean over and give Ethan a brief kiss.

“ _Whoa...”_ Kyle thought before looking over to say something to Ethan, only the thing was, his co-pilot was no longer beside him. _“Huh...? Ethan? Where'd you go?”_

He realized the answer though as soon as he thought it, however. Kyle's eyes traced back to where the memory version of Ethan was, and when their eyes met, the brunette became certain of where the other man had gone, if only for a moment. He found Ethan back by his side before he knew it.

The older man cleared his throat, and Kyle turned to look at him curiously. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the memory version of his co-pilot had, so to speak, resumed character.

“Hm...sorry about that, man,” said Ethan.

“No, don't worry about it,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “You...?”

He left the question unasked, but Ethan answered it anyway. The older man nodded.

“Yeah, I went over there for a sec...” said Ethan. “Just thought maybe it'd help me remember better.”

“What were you looking for?” Kyle asked.

Ethan rubbed at the back of his neck. “I have a feeling if I say it out loud, it's going to sound pretty stupid.”

Kyle shrugged. “Who cares? No one else has to know.”

Ethan half-smiled. “Well, when you put it that way...”

“So?”

“Well...lately I've been wondering about certain things,” Ethan said slowly. “Trying to figure out...eh, I'm not sure what the right words are to describe it.”

“Take your time,” said Kyle. “Or...you know, I could always just tap into what you're feeling?”

“Yeah...” Ethan said with a slightly awkward smile. “You know...? In this case, I think it might be best...”

“All right,” Kyle said with a nod. “As long as you're okay with it?”

“I'm sure.”

“Cool.”

Kyle allowed himself to relax and sort of spaced out, though the action was quite different within the Drift than it was in the real world. When a person wandered in the Drift, they were sifting through their co-pilot's thoughts, emotions, and memories—a person could learn a wealth of things about another individual in this way. It was amazing how much could be understood with just raw intuition.

What Kyle came to understand in the next few moments were all of the older man's most recent thoughts and worries since they'd become co-pilots. How Ethan had started revisiting the memory he was showing Kyle now a few months after they'd become a team. That lately, Ethan found himself speculating about things that he'd never wondered about before, like if he had happened to feel something when Nathaniel kissed him back then, but just didn't recognize it at the time. Apparently though, just trying to relive the moment through the eyes of his reminiscent form didn't really help in answering that question, at least, not the way he had hoped it would—it only raised more questions. Even more recently, Ethan had found himself wondering if perhaps Kyle was somehow influencing him through the Drift unconsciously.

“Oh...” Kyle said as he snapped out of his tranced state at that last thought and looked back at Ethan. “I've never even thought about that, but you know...it's definitely possible.”

“Yeah, I...” Ethan trailed off while wearing a slight frown. “I guess lately I find myself wishing that I'd remember how I felt during certain points of my life, you know? Like from before we started Drifting...I mean, not that I regret the fact that we're a team or anything. It's just...”

“No, I get it,” Kyle said, nodding. “Sometimes I feel it too. I feel like the better we get at Drifting, the stronger our connection is, I feel like a part of who I was just kind of slips away...”

“Exactly!” said Ethan. “You've hit the nail on the head, man! I mean, it's a little scary, don't you think? Lately I find it hard to figure out what's coming from myself and what could potentially be the result of you sharing head space with me.”

“Mm...”

The sound of a gasp suddenly captured their attention and the two men found themselves looking back at the memory Ethan had been showing Kyle; it had continued on while the two of them had been briefly distracted. Both men were silent as they watched the visual retelling of past events. The surprised noise had come from Ethan, who looked understandably shocked from what Nathaniel had just done to him.

“Dude...Nate...! What was that just now...?”

Nathaniel's face was a bright red. “That was a kiss, man.”

“I...what?” Ethan said, shaking his head. “I don't get it...why did you kiss me?”

Now the look in his friend's eyes appeared a little sad. Nathaniel let out a soft sigh.

“Damn, E...” he mumbled, shaking his head. “You really don't have a clue, do you?”

A million thoughts seemed to flicker through Ethan's eyes and Kyle found himself shaking his head as well. He looked over at his co-pilot.

“ _You were a real blockhead, weren't you?”_

Ethan shrugged and gave him a sheepish smile. _“Hey, we got through it in the end.”_

Before Kyle could reply, Nathaniel's projection cut him off. “Did you feel anything at all just now?”

Ethan's memory version of himself shook his head. “I...well, that kind of happened really fast, you know.”

Nathaniel sighed again. “Forget it. Never mind then.”

Ethan frowned. “Hey...!”

“Melanie's got eyes for you!” his friend blurted out suddenly.

Kyle groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. _“Oh my God...!”_

“ _Yeah...”_ Ethan responded to Kyle's thought with a chuckle. _“Definitely a mess.”_

Ethan's projection slumped his shoulders in exasperation. “Wait a minute...! _Now_ what are you going on about?”

“Seriously. How are you this dense?” Nathaniel asked with a look of disapproval on his face. “She likes you, man...! Like likes you likes you... _damn_ , I feel stupid saying it like that...!”

“Christ...what the hell going on?” Ethan asked, rubbing a knuckle against his forehead, eyebrows raised in bewilderment. “First you kiss me, then you're telling me Mel's got the hots for me?”

“Well before you get even more confused and think I said that second part out of nobility... _don't_ ,” Nathaniel snapped lightly. “I kissed you first for a reason. I was just hoping...”

“Okay, now just a second,” Ethan said with a frown. “You do realize that was my first kiss just now, right?”

Nathaniel's jaw set and he averted his gaze. “Yeah, so...? If you want an apology about that, you're not getting one. I'm not sorry...”

“I... _huh_...well, _look_. First of all, I don't even know how to respond to that,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “Second of all, everything you've told me, your feelings, Mel's...? You realize this is just all smacking me upside the head out of the blue now, don't you?”

Nathaniel responded by muttering some things under his breath that the other man couldn't quite catch. Ethan's frown deepened.

“What was that?”

“I said I think it's a crock of bull, that's what,” Nathaniel said, jutting out his chin. “I'm a big boy, E, not to mention your best friend from since before either of us could walk. You don't have to act all considerate and try to find a way to let me down easy. Just go ahead and give it to me straight.”

“What the fuck, man!” Ethan exclaimed, suddenly losing his temper. “Quit trying to force out of me what I don't even know myself yet! I've never really taken the time to think about anyone in the romantic sense, and now all of a sudden I'm supposed to just _know_...?”

Nathaniel didn't respond and just looked away stubbornly. Ethan shook his head in displeasure.

“Well, _fuck_...!” Ethan said as he threw up his hands angrily. “At least give me a chance to digest all this new information and sort my feelings out, yeah?”

Nathaniel shook his head and let out a sigh of resignation. He closed his eyes and turned away from his friend, voice shaking.

“ _Fine_...”

Kyle's eyes softened when he saw this and he looked over at his co-pilot. _“You know he probably regretted the way that all panned out, right...?”_

“ _Yeah, I know,”_ Ethan replied with a nod. _“_ _Wasn't exactly the finest hour for either of us. We were both pretty young and stupid.”_

“ _I'll say,”_ Kyle thought back with a snort. _“It's funny though...watching this argument...it definitely puts some things in perspective for me as well. Gets me to wondering how many of the verbal smack downs Jeremy and I had gotten into in the past were nothing more than petty spats like this one.”_

“ _Being the third party is always easier, isn't it?”_ Ethan asked.

“ _Yeah,”_ Kyle agreed with a nod. _“So...what happened after that?”_

Ethan sighed. _“Well...then I thought about it, and here's the thing. Back then, I thought I knew what I wanted was Mel. So I went after her, and as you know, I had her for a while before losing her to my brother, but now...”_

“ _You're thinking something else?”_

“ _Been wondering if maybe I just chose her because I thought that was the appropriate thing to do,”_ said Ethan. _“And not how I actually felt.”_

Kyle laughed softly. _“Well, I don't exactly think I can answer that for you...”_

“ _Wasn't expecting you to,”_ Ethan said with a small smile. _“Well anyway, that really is enough of that. You get the point.”_

The memory concluded. Kyle tilted his head to one side and eyed his co-pilot curiously before finally speaking aloud again instead of projecting his thoughts.

“So how long did the fight last?” he asked.

“Mm...for a couple of months, I would say,” Ethan said, chuckling when Kyle's eyes grew round again. “Hey, I did say that when Nate and I would get into it, we'd really go at it, didn't I?”

“Well, _yeah_ , true...but then how did y'all learn to get through it?” Kyle asked.

“I think it all really boils down to a matter of what you guys value the most at the end of the day,” said Ethan. “Is it your individual pride...? Or is it the history you share and your relationship together, be it friendship or something else entirely.”

Kyle began to worry his lower lip. “Okay...?”

Ethan laughed softly. “Well, to get right to the point...which I assume is what you're trying to get out of me...Nate's pretty damn stubborn, especially when he's embarrassed...kind of like how I gather your friend Jeremy is sometimes.”

“And you're saying you're not?” Kyle asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Oh no, not at all, I definitely am and I'm well aware of it,” said Ethan. “And if you're being honest about it, you'll admit that you are too.”

“...not denying it,” Kyle said with a one-shoulder shrug.

“Well, when it comes to mending the relationship, it really comes down to who's got sense enough to swallow their pride and just take that first step back towards the right direction,” said Ethan. “And in this case...I have a feeling it's going to be you.”

“Because that's what Nathaniel did?” Kyle asked.

“Nah, that's the one area where I think you and Nate are actually completely opposite and where you and I are the same,” said Ethan. “From what you've told me and what I've seen in the Drift, I think your friend Jeremy's the one with the meaner stubborn streak.”

Kyle frowned. “So you're saying I should reach out first...?”

“Only if you're tired of the silence,” Ethan said with a nod. “I mean, unless you can say realistically that you think your friend's going to wise up and reach out first.”

Kyle let out a sigh. “Well...no...I guess you're right about everything, it's just...”

Ethan half-smiled. “Let me guess...? You're wondering how you could even start...?”

Kyle chuckled weakly. “ _Bingo_.”

“Hm...well...? Why don't you think about sending him a letter, man...?” Ethan suggested.

“That what you did?” Kyle asked.

“That's exactly what I did, in fact,” Ethan said with a nod. “I'll admit, I was pacing about my room for days, but good ol' Nate came through in the end. He got back to me by the end of the week. That's when everything started back up again.”

“I...” Kyle trailed off with a sigh and slumped his shoulders. “Well, I don't know...I guess I'll think about it...”

“People will surprise you, you know,” Ethan said, seeming to imply that he picked up on Kyle's concern that Jeremy wouldn't take the time to write back. “Sometimes we don't know them as well as we think we do.”

Kyle didn't say anything at first, but then he finally let out another sigh. “Look...I said I'll think about it, all right?”

“Hey, hey...” Ethan said, holding up his hands defensively. “Just giving you advice. You don't have to answer to me or anything...whatever you end up deciding, that's all your business.”

“Hah...thanks, man...” Kyle said with a small smile.

“Don't mention it,” said Ethan. “Listen though...think you might be ready to call it quits for the day?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said with a nod. “Feels like we've been Drifting a pretty long time.”

“Maybe,” Ethan agreed. “But time always goes by a whole lot faster once you're plugged into the Drift.”

“Mm...” Kyle hummed harmoniously.

The two of them focused on exiting the Drift, and the next thing they knew, they had returned to the surface-level of their consciousness. While Kyle was still regathering his bearings, he felt Ethan clap a reassuring hand on one of his shoulders.

“If it makes you feel any better...on the other hand, I still haven't made the first move with my little brother yet,” he heard Ethan murmur quietly. “Deep down, I know it has to be me, and I'm pretty confident that if I do, I'll more than likely achieve similar results like I have with Nate...still...I find myself at the end of the day with a whole drawer full of unsent letters to the kid...”

Kyle didn't respond, but looked on as Ethan began to clean up his portion of the portable Pons system. After a few seconds, he silently followed suit.

“Maybe one of these days, I'll figure it out...” Ethan continued softly. “It always seems like forever until we don't.”

Ethan's last statement burned in Kyle's mind. It would eventually get buried somewhere deep in the brunette's thoughts, but they were words that would never truly go forgotten, even if they weren't always readily remembered.

That evening, Kyle would go to bed and allow his mind to wander and think about Jeremy in a way he hadn't in weeks. He fell asleep wondering how the other man could possibly be doing.

Truth be told, Jeremy wasn't doing much better since he and Kyle had parted ways. The dark-haired man had become rather distant from Raleigh and Yancy since Kyle's departure. Yancy, of course, wasn't the one who noticed—he was too absorbed in his younger brother, as always. He only became aware of it when Raleigh casually mentioned it to him one Sunday over breakfast.

Since Yancy wasn't a morning person, their first meal of the day was usually quiet, save for the occasional clinking of silverware and other noises generally related to eating. The first few hours of the day were even more tranquil after their father had gone; they were long past the days of unnecessary verbal bouts and their living room reeking of alcohol. Some days, Raleigh found it a little hard to believe that a year had already gone by since their father's cold-hearted exit.

Raleigh cut up his pancakes and glanced over at his brother occasionally, trying to figure out when the best moment would be to start a conversation. He decided the opportune moment had come when Yancy finally returned Raleigh's gaze and gave the younger man a small smile. Raleigh gave him a warm smile back before speaking.

“You hear from Jay lately?” Raleigh asked as he stuck his fork into a bit of pancake.

Yancy frowned, but his brother could tell that the older man was only thinking about the question. “Hm...?”

“I mean...I guess I've just noticed that you two haven't really been hanging out lately,” Raleigh said with a slight shrug.

Yancy finished chewing his food before responding. “Huh...you know...I think you might be right. It has been a while. We haven't really talked that much since Kyle left.”

“Thought that might be the case...” Raleigh said with a sigh. “You should probably check up on him, Yance.”

His older brother scowled. “Jerry's a grown ass man. He can look after himself just fine.”

“Well, he's one of your best friends, isn't he?” Raleigh said challengingly. “And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not a little kid anymore either.”

“But you're my little brother,” said Yancy. “There's a difference.”

He let out a sigh when Raleigh gave him a disapproving look. Yancy ran a hand through his hair as he leaned back slightly in his seat, facial expression flickering between fondness and annoyance.

“Just talk to him, Yance,” Raleigh said softly. “Please.”

“Yeah, all right, kid...I'll give him a call in a bit,” Yancy said with a bit of a smirk. “Since you asked so nicely...”

Raleigh lowered his eyes at his brother's statement, expression unreadable. If Yancy found the younger man's response to be strange, he didn't let on about it.

The younger man knew better than to add that he'd been worrying about his brother's friend since Kyle had left for the PPDC, and had the situation between the two brothers not been what it was, Raleigh would have gone and talked to Jeremy himself. Raleigh was also secretly thankful, however, to the fact that one of Yancy's friends had remained in town. Whether or not the older man realized it, Raleigh was convinced that the main reason for Yancy never really spiraling too far out of control was because he had always had Kyle and Jeremy for anchors. Raleigh believed that they provided his older brother with a sense of functionality that the two of them otherwise lacked.

Shortly after finishing their meal, Raleigh took on the task of washing the dishes while listening to Yancy pace about their kitchen, talking on the cordless phone. The conversation hadn't been going long, but it was already getting heated—although that wasn't really anything out of the ordinary between Yancy and his friend. Raleigh pretended not to eavesdrop, but he was following Yancy's end of the conversation closely, ready to intervene at any moment if necessary. Now that Kyle was gone, Raleigh realized it was probably up to him to moderate any verbal smack downs between the two older men.

“Well, all right... _fine_...!” Yancy snapped at whatever Jeremy had just told him. “So you're busy for the next few big days. Big deal...!”

Raleigh finished rinsing off the last dish and placed it in one of the racks of the dishwasher. After closing the machine and setting the timer, Raleigh turned around and gave his older brother a questioning look. Yancy rolled his eyes and made a symbolic gesture of a gun to his forehead with his fingers, mouthing the sound effect of a gun going off as he figuratively pulled the trigger. Raleigh frowned in disapproval. Yancy shook his head at his brother and ran a hand through his hair as he turned away from his brother.

“Okay, well all I'm saying is,” Yancy said as he threw up his free hand. “It's been a while since we've met up so...”

Raleigh took a seat at the kitchen table. He could faintly hear Jeremy's voice come through the speaker. Whatever he said made his older brother frown.

“Hey! You watch what you say about Raleigh...!”

The younger man stifled a groan. He had a feeling Jeremy must have mentioned Raleigh being the main reason behind Yancy's apparent concern for him. It was true, of course, but Raleigh thought that Jeremy should have known better than to call Yancy out on it.

“ _Look_. Will you quit being such a pain in the ass...?” Yancy said with a grunt. “Just call me when you're free, all right, man? _Damn_...!”

“...well that went well,” Raleigh said quietly after Yancy had angrily hung up the phone.

“Your idea,” Yancy said, shaking his head as he took a seat across from his brother. “In case you've forgotten...that was seriously a lot more trouble than it was worth.”

Raleigh half-smiled and hesitantly reached out for his brother's hand, knowing it would calm the other man down. It had the intended effect immediately, with Yancy's posture relaxing upon contact. Raleigh tried not to tense when Yancy's grip on his hand tightened almost instantly. He couldn't help the shiver that coursed through him though, when Yancy ran his thumb gently to and fro against the back of his hand. Raleigh moistened his lips.

“So what'd he say, anyway?” Raleigh asked. “He going to call you?”

“Yeah...but when he's ready though,” Yancy said with a nod and a slight shrug of the shoulders. “This _is_ Jeremy we're talking about, after all...you know how it goes.”

Raleigh chuckled softly. “Of course...”

Yancy shook his head. “Honestly, I don't know how he and Kyle ever got to being friends. They're so damn different. In fact, I think it's safe to say that the two of us would've never become friends in the first place if it weren't for Kyle.”

“Aw, come on now, Yancy, don't say that,” Raleigh said with a frown. “You two might get on each others last nerve, sure...but you have to admit that at the end of the day, Jeremy's a good friend.”

“Hm...yeah, all right,” Yancy conceded with a small sigh. “Guess I can't exactly deny it...but enough about him now, all right? The ball's in his court now. It's up to him whether or not he's going to call; I've already set out my offer.”

“Yeah, okay,” Raleigh said with a nod.

The two of them sat in silence for a little while. Raleigh's breath hitched quietly when his brother suddenly moved his hand to entwine their fingers together. He unintentionally swallowed and his jaw slightly tensed when he dared meet his brother's gaze.

For a brief moment, Raleigh saw something in his brother's eyes that made him feel a familiar twist of dread in his gut. What he recognized flickered once, twice in his brother's expression before it was suddenly replaced with neutrality. Yancy quickly retracted his hand and backed away from Raleigh.

The older man cleared his throat. “Well...I think I'm going to go out and run for a bit. Will you be okay here?”

Raleigh softly exhaled, only just then realizing that he had been holding his breath. “U-uh yeah, sure, Yance. I'll be fine.”

“Good,” Yancy said as he got up from his chair and made a show of stretching. “Don't go anywhere. I'll be back in a few.”

Raleigh nodded. “Okay. Sounds good.”

The younger man found himself glad to be sitting when Yancy turned around and left the kitchen. Raleigh was sure that if he had been standing, he might have collapsed in that very moment; he suddenly felt lightheaded. Raleigh hadn't seen the look his older brother had given him in months, but the meaning behind it was so deeply ingrained that Raleigh didn't think he'd ever _not_ recognize it, no matter how much time passed. Yancy still wanted him, of that much Raleigh was sure, and quite possibly always would, it seemed.

Yancy didn't come back to the house until just a little over an hour later; during the period of time he was away, Raleigh prepared to handle the worst from his brother upon the older man's return. Yancy came back as Raleigh's sense of calm was beginning to dissipate; when Raleigh heard the older man walk back through the front door, Raleigh welcomed him back, with an embrace. Admittedly, he was relieved that Yancy hadn't decided at the last minute to abandon him without a word after all, just like their father had. When he pulled away from his brother, Raleigh noted the difference in Yancy's demeanor; there was less tension.

Yancy looked down and gave his brother a warm smile before mussing the younger man's hair. He placed an affectionate kiss on top of his younger brother's head.

“Sorry I took so long, kid,” Yancy said quietly, as if he had read the younger man's mind.

“Nah, it's all right,” Raleigh said, shaking his head. “Want to go watch a show or something?”

Yancy shrugged. “Sure, kid. Sounds good to me.”

The two men made their way to the living room and eventually settled themselves on a long couch. Initially they sat with a bit of space between them. After a few minutes though, however, the two of them began to unconsciously draw closer to each other as they exchanged words about the program they were watching. By the end of the first hour, Raleigh had stretched himself out on the couch, using one of his older brother's thighs as a pillow. Yancy was absently trailing his fingers up and down one of Raleigh's arms, attention mostly still focused on what was playing on the television. After a while, their conversation began to dwindle and Raleigh's eyes fluttered as he fought against their growing weight.

Yancy didn't notice that his brother had fallen asleep at first until he turned to ask the younger man a question, only to find that Raleigh's eyes were closed and he was breathing softly. Yancy spent several moments quietly observing his younger brother's peaceful expression, eventually moving his hand to slowly trace his brother's relaxed features. At some point though, Yancy fell into a bit of a trance, his hand unconsciously wandering to other parts of the younger man's body. It wasn't until a light frown formed on Raleigh's face, a small sigh escaping him as he arched his back in response to Yancy's touch that the other man quickly retracted his hand.

“ _Shit_...” Yancy muttered under his breath as he started to feel a tightness in his pants. “Fuck...”

Slowly, he maneuvered himself away from his brother, taking great care not to wake the younger man. Yancy held his breath when Raleigh turned his body to face him, and let out a soft exhale of relief upon seeing that the younger man was still very much asleep. Quietly, Yancy quickly turned on his heels and out of the living room. Raleigh woke up about an hour later, partially because he was getting cold and also because he was starting to feel a crick in his neck. It took Raleigh several moments to fully blink away his sleep, but when he finally did he immediately realized that his brother was no longer there. Raleigh grunted and first got up to shut off the television that Yancy had accidentally left running before making his way out of the room.

He found Yancy in their room, sitting on top of his bed and reading a book. The older man gave Raleigh a brief glance and a half-smile in acknowledgment. Raleigh gave his brother a small smile back and climbed next to his brother in bed. Yancy's eyes returned to his book and he flipped a page.

They exchanged a few brief words and eventually came to the decision that they'd go for an outing together after Yancy finished the chapter he was currently reading. Raleigh sat quietly next to his brother while the older man read. Any question he had regarding Yancy's distant behavior or why he had left Raleigh alone in the living room remained unasked, and the rest of the day wore on otherwise uneventfully.

Jeremy didn't take longer than most of the following day to cycle through his usual stubbornness, quite possibly a record for him. As soon as he ended his work shift, he decided to give Yancy a call. The blonde man answered within a couple rings.

“ _Hello?”_

“Yancy.”

“ _Jerry,”_ Yancy said in response before clearing his throat. _“What's up?”_

“How about a drink tonight?” Jeremy asked, deciding to get straight to the point. “I just got off work.”

“ _You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea,”_ Yancy said, his response surprising Jeremy somewhat. _“Where and when?”_

“How about right now?” Jeremy asked. “Darwin's?”

“ _Sounds good to me.”_

“See you in a bit then,” said Jeremy.

He hung up after Yancy's reply. _“Got it man. See you.”_

The two men arrived at the bar at approximately the same time and met up in the parking lot. They exchanged curt nods of acknowledgment upon spotting each other.

“It's been a while, man,” Yancy said as he walked up to his friend. “Good to see you.”

“Likewise,” said Jeremy. “Raleigh cool about staying at home?”

“Eh, the kid's fine,” Yancy said with a slight shrug. “How you been?”

“Why don't we go inside first?” Jeremy asked, lifting his chin slightly towards the bar's entrance.

Yancy nodded. “All right. After you, then.”

Once the two men had settled at the bar and ordered their first round, Yancy decided to make a second attempt at asking Jeremy about how he was. Yancy turned to look at his friend, who seemed somewhat distracted.

“Hey. Jerry.”

His friend let out a sigh. “Hm?”

Due to the lack of enthusiasm in his friend's reaction, Yancy decided to be direct in his approach. “You talk to Kyle at all since he left?”

Jeremy's fingers stopped in their movement and his expression darkened. Yancy waited patiently knowing well enough that his friend wasn't ignoring him, he was just trying to figure out how he wanted to respond. Just then, the bartender came around with their drinks. Jeremy thanked the server and drank some of the contents from his glass before finally providing Yancy with an answer to his question.

“I don't talk to him, but I watch him,” Jeremy said.

Yancy's brows furrowed together slightly. “Not sure I'm following you.”

Jeremy pointed up in the direction of the various television screens hanging above the bar. “I watch the news when I can; I catch the feed off the radio while I work. They give updates on the people fighting the Kaijus sometimes. I think I've heard Kyle's name mentioned once or twice.”

“Oh,” Yancy said, somewhat surprised by the other man's response. “That's...”

“Not doing much, I know,” Jeremy said, the grip on his glass tightening slightly. “At least his partner looks capable enough at watching his back.”

Yancy frowned. “Partner?”

Jeremy looked at Yancy and raised an eyebrow. “Come on, man. You of all people should know the people who pilot those huge metal tin cans are teams of two.”

“Yeah, no, I know that,” Yancy said, shaking his head. “Sorry, I should have been more clear. To be honest, I haven't been following Kyle's movements all that closely, man. Not like you have. I meant that I'm not familiar who his partner is.”

“Oh,” said Jeremy. “Okay, that makes more sense then."

“What's his co-pilot's name,” Yancy asked.

Jeremy chuckled and took another sip of his drink before answering. “Ah...hell if I know, man. Though I vaguely remember him being named after a car or something like that.”

“What, so like a Mercedez Benz?” Yancy asked with a slight grin. “Or maybe something more sporty? Lamborghini? Maserati?”

His friend laughed and shook his head. “Seriously, I don't have a fucking clue, man. That being said, I think you're on the right track though; I do remember it being _something_ fancy.”

Yancy smiled and took a gulp of his own drink before throwing out some more names. “Porsche? Jaguar?”

“Stop it, man,” Jeremy said, still shaking his head and laughing. The dark-haired man turned his head and let his hand smack down on the bar. “Yo, bartender!”

The man who had been serving them before walked over to Jeremy. “What can I get ya, bud?”

Jeremy held up a couple fingers. “Another round of the same. Two more of each of us, my friend and I here.”

The bartender nodded. “You've got it.”

“Thanks.”

Jeremy turned and shot Yancy an amused glance, and the blonde took that as permission to continue his wild guessing. “All right, dude...how about Ferrari? Does it sound like I'm getting close?”

“ _Geez_ you're relentless,” Jeremy said, chuckling. “I'm telling you, man...I don't fucking know.”

Yancy flashed their bartender a grin when the man came around with their drinks. “I can tell you right now we're going to need another round, man.”

Jeremy snorted. “At this rate, we might as well just get a whole damn pitcher.”

“Good idea!” Yancy said enthusiastically. “Bartender! A pitcher, if you please!”

Their server shook his head in amusement. “Sure thing. Coming right up.”

Yancy then turned his attention back to Jeremy and held up his half-empty glass. “All right, all right...come on, man. Just one more. One more then I'm done.”

“Oh _Lord_...here we go,” Jeremy said as he downed the contents of his glass between sentences. “We haven't had more than two beers each and already we're having _that_ conversation?”

“Shut up, man,” Yancy said with a smile. “I swear this is it.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” said Jeremy. “Fine. Go ahead. Shoot.”

“McLaren.”

“And I tell you _again_ ,” said Jeremy. “ _I. Don't. Know._ ”

“Don't know or don't care?” Yancy shot back cheekily.

“Does it even fucking matter?” asked Jeremy.

“Eh, I guess it doesn't,” said Yancy. “Not in this case, anyway.”

“So...? Then less talking, more drinking,” Jeremy said as their pitcher arrived. “Want me to fill yours up for you?”

“Sure,” Yancy said, sliding his glass over to his friend.

Jeremy caught it and began pouring. Yancy watched him silently for a couple moments before speaking up again.

“Been a while since I've seen you laugh, man.”

Jeremy pushed Yancy's full glass back to him and let out a small groan. “Aw, come on...you drunk already?”

“ _Hell_ no,” Yancy said as he accepted the drink. “Just stating a truthful observation.”

“Yeah, well I didn't come here to talk about feelings,” Jeremy muttered.

“Well, you know I'm not normally the type,” said Yancy. “But I'm thinking that maybe it's about high time we do."

“You mean _Raleigh_ thinks we need to,” Jeremy scoffed.

“ _Look_ ,” Yancy said, jabbing a finger in Jeremy's direction. “I'm going to go ahead and let that one slide, but only because I think the kid has a point.”

Jeremy sighed and tapped a finger against his glass. “There ain't anything to talk about, man...”

“Come on,” said Yancy. “Humor me.”

“All right, fine,” Jeremy said with a shrug. “What do you want to know, anyhow?”

“Why did you two stop talking?” asked Yancy.

Jeremy couldn't help but to laugh a little. Yancy frowned.

“What's so funny, man?”

“Nah, nothing really,” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “It's just...when I think about how to explain it...honestly, it's going to sound a little like a couple breaking up.”

Yancy half-smiled at that. “Yeah, well...I wouldn't say that's a _completely_ inaccurate statement.”

Jeremy scrunched his nose. “I'm not even going to try figuring out what you mean by that.”

He frowned when Yancy responded with a smirk; he was suddenly reminded of the time when Kyle had first introduced the two of them to each other. While his mind was a bit fuzzy on the details why—though if he were to guess, it was most likely because of Kyle—Jeremy distinctly remembered the blonde giving him a similar expression back then as well.

“Anyway...” Jeremy said, deciding to continue. “It just got to the point where it seemed like we were always arguing about something. I mean, we'd be good for a while, but then those good times would get shorter and we'd just get back to fighting again.”

“About the PPDC?” Yancy asked.

“Shoot...what else?” Jeremy asked as he raked his fingers through his black hair. “Kyle wanted me to join up with y'all so bad...”

Yancy shook his head. “I still don't get why you were so against doing it.”

Jeremy sighed. “Man, to be honest, I don't even know now...”

“You regret it?” Yancy asked.

Jeremy shrugged. “We were always joined at the hip...I was afraid we weren't being our own selves...”

“So you thought pushing him away was the answer?”

“Shit...I don't know,” Jeremy said as he drank down his beer and started pouring some more into his glass from their pitcher. “Guess I thought it was a sign or something...that we both needed to grow up, go our separate ways."

“And why would you think that?” Yancy said with a frown. “Man...sometimes I don't get how you think, Jerry.”

“Look...Kyle's always needed looking after,” said Jeremy. “When we were younger, he used to get picked on a lot.”

“Really?” Yancy asked, raising an eyebrow. “I don't think I remember anything like that...Kyle's always been pretty well-liked as far as I can remember.”

“Yeah, well I'm pretty sure that I have a lot to do with that,” Jeremy said with a hint of pride in his voice. “I made sure to set straight the people that needed straightening.”

Yancy snorted with amusement. “Yeah...I don't find that hard to imagine at all.”

“Anyway, _look_...bottom line is, at some point I realized he doesn't need looking after anymore,” said Jeremy. “I mean, you get it, right? I'm sure you've been going through the same things with Raleigh...”

Yancy's jaw tightened. “Well, I wouldn't exactly say that...”

“Then what would you say?” Jeremy asked, shaking his head. “You've got to get over your brother complex sometime, man...”

“He's my little brother,” said Yancy. “And that's who he'll always be, no matter how old he gets.”

“Hm...I guess I can see your point,” said Jeremy. “I suppose it's a little different between siblings.”

Yancy shrugged. “Eh, I wouldn't necessarily say that either. I mean sure, sometimes friends outgrow each other, but I don't think that was the case for you and Kyle.”

“Well friends can sometimes hold each other back,” Jeremy said with a sigh. “And honestly...that's how I felt with Kyle.”

Yancy raised an eyebrow. “You thought he was holding you back?”

“What? No,” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “Other way around, man...I was always holding _him_ back.”

“How do you figure that?” asked Yancy.

“I could never tell if he thought I didn't notice or if he just did it without thinking,” said Jeremy. “But I always got the feeling that he just let me take the lead on everything.”

“I don't really see how that's a big deal,” said Yancy.

“It just made me nervous, is all,” said Jeremy. “Realistically speaking, it's not like I could always be around him twenty-four seven.”

“Now you're just sounding like a parent,” Yancy said, brows furrowing together. “You said so yourself, he's not exactly helpless.”

“Yeah, well...it made sense at the time,” Jeremy said, shaking his head.

Yancy half-smiled. “And you act like I'm the only one with a complex.”

Jeremy frowned. “Shut up.”

“You ever talk to him about it?” asked Yancy.

Jeremy's response was to scowl at his drink. Yancy sighed.

“Right...of course not. That's not your style,” said Yancy. “So you guys just left it on bad terms?”

“Can't really find another way to put it,” Jeremy said, wincing slightly. “Anyway, it all worked out, yeah...? He's fighting Kaiju and thriving, just like I knew he would...”

“It's not too late to join up, you know,” said Yancy.

“There ain't room for me on that team, man...” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “You know I wouldn't work on a team with anyone I don't know, and it's not like I can go kick his current partner out of his seat.”

“Sure you can,” Yancy said with a small shrug. “Once they see that hot temper of yours, I don't think even the PPDC higher ups will deny you anything.”

Jeremy laughed softly. “That may be true, but you know...he looks all right. Kyle looks like he's getting along well with that partner of his too, so it's fine. Everything looks like it worked out the way it was supposed to...”

Yancy tilted his head to the side and his eyes slowly widened in surprise. “Well I'll be...”

Jeremy looked at the blonde and frowned. “Huh? What?”

“Holy shit...” Yancy said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Wonder where I've been all this time? I don't know how I've never noticed it before...”

“What?” Jeremy snapped in annoyance. “What are you talking about, man?”

“You're in love with him,” Yancy said, stating it as a fact, like it wasn't even a question.

Jeremy's face suddenly flushed red. “W-what the fuck, man? What the hell are you saying?”

“Well you said so yourself, didn't you?” said Yancy. “Just before Kyle left, you two had a lovers spat.”

“Those were not my exact words, man,” Jeremy said with a frown. “And we weren't a couple.”

“Whatever, close enough,” Yancy said dismissively. “And the more I think about it, you two were _definitely_ seeing each other, man. Probably were the whole time you were playing friends.”

“We weren't 'playing' anything!” Jeremy said, exasperated. “I don't even...”

“What?” asked Yancy.

“...know if I've ever felt anything else with him,” Jeremy admitted softly as he finished the thought.

Yancy gave his friend a small smirk. “So you've thought about it.”

“I...shut up, man,” Jeremy said with a frown and gestured towards Yancy's glass. “Just finish your damn drink.”

“Oh, I will,” Yancy said with a grin. “But I've also got all night, so...”

“Asshole.”

“Well if that ain't the pot calling the kettle black...”

“Seriously. Do you ever stop yapping?”

“Not when I have a drink in my hand, no.”

“Smart ass.”

“Why, thank you.”

The two men progressively got more drunk as the night wore on. At some point, they both finally decided to call it quits and paid for their drinks before fumbling outside.

“ _Shit_ , man...I haven't been this fucking wasted in a _long_ time...” Jeremy said, shaking his head as he began to rummage through one of his pockets for something.

Both men were leaning sloppily against a brick wall. Yancy placed a hand on Jeremy's shoulder and laughed.

“No kidding! I haven't felt this good in a while,” Yancy agreed. “The hell are you looking for, Jerry?”

“My phone,” said Jeremy. “Mother _fucker,_ where did I put that piece of shit...?”

“Who you tryin' to call this late at night?” Yancy drawled, his eyes fluttering as they became heavy.

“Ah, here it is,” Jeremy said, squinting from the glare of his screen as he scrolled through his contacts. “Gonna call up my folks. Hit 'em up for a ride.”

“Why don't we just call a cab?” Yancy asked. “Instead of pissing your parents off?”

“Nah, man...they'll be all right,” said Jeremy. “Besides, my truck's still here. Someone's got to take it home...I don't trust my baby in this parking lot.”

Yancy mumbled something back in response, but it sounded like incoherent babble. Jeremy selected his father's name from the list and put the phone to his ear as he listened to it ring. His father's tired voice came through in a few seconds.

“ _...Jeremy? What is it, son...?”_

“Need a ride, Dad, sorry,” Jeremy slurred. “I uh...Yancy's here, and my truck...”

His father sighed. _“Yeah, okay, where are you...?”_

Jeremy heard his mother's sleepy voice faintly in the background. _“Who is it, Charles...?”_

His father's voice sounded a bit distant when he responded to Jeremy's mother. Jeremy assumed he had either muffled the mouthpiece with his hand or turned his head aware from the phone to answer.

“ _It's Jeremy. He and Yancy went out drinking some place.”_

“ _...what time is it?”_

“ _A little after one.”_

“ _Mm...he take his truck with him?”_

“ _That's what it sounds like.”_

Jeremy heard the light rustling of sheets come through the ear piece. Either one or both of his parents was moving.

“What is it...?” Yancy said, nudging at his quiet friend. “What're they saying? They pissed?”

“Shhh, shhh,” Jeremy said, putting a finger to his lips. “Hang on a sec, they're talking. I'm trying to listen...”

“Yeah, okay, well...let me know,” Yancy grumbled as he let go of Jeremy and let himself slide down to a sitting position on the ground.

“ _Hm...all right, I'll go with you to get him.”_

“ _It's all right, darling, I can go get them myself.”_

“ _Really, Charles, why else do you think the boy called you?”_ Jeremy heard his mother chuckle softly. _“Someone's got to bring his truck back home. If he hadn't driven it, do you think he'd be calling us this late in the first place?”_

“ _Well...he's drunk.”_

“ _Come on, dear,”_ Jeremy's mother scolded his father gently. _“Even at his most intoxicated, you know our son has more sense than that. He'd have to deal with me, otherwise.”_

“ _...you can be a mighty frightening woman sometimes, Lisa.”_

“ _You mean I'm one hell of a woman, Charlie honey,”_ Jeremy heard his mother say in an amused tone. _“Now tell your son that we're on our way...and oh, please do find out where our little angel is too, while you're at it.”_

Jeremy could almost see his father shake his head as he chuckled with amusement. He heard his father clear his throat before his voice came through the phone more clearly.

“ _All right, son, we're coming to get you and your friend,”_ his father said. _“Now can you tell me where on earth it is you both are?”_

“Yeah, Dad,” said Jeremy. “We're outside Darwin's right now.”

“ _Okay, we'll be there.”_

“ _Tell him to wait inside,”_ Jeremy heard his mother say.

“ _Wait inside,”_ his father relayed dutifully. _“Your mama doesn't want you catching a cold now.”_

“You got it, Pops,” Jeremy said, nodding despite the fact that his father wouldn't be able to see. “Might need to come in and look for us though, it's a little loud in there. They close at two.”

“ _Right. We'll try to be there before then,”_ said his father.

“ _Hurry up, Charlie! I'm ready to go,”_ Jeremy heard his mother say.

“Talk to you later, Dad,” said Jeremy.

“ _All right. We'll be seeing you in a bit, son.”_

Jeremy shoved his phone back into his jacket pocket after his father hung up, and he nudged a half-asleep Yancy gently with his foot. “Hey, man...get up. My folks are coming. They want us to wait inside.”

Yancy groaned, tilting his head back and letting it rest against the brick wall. He closed his eyes and raised one of his arms.

“Help me up, Jerry...”

“All right, come on...here,” Jeremy said, grunting as he took his friend's hand and pulled the other man up. “You big baby.”

“You know? I'm just going to let that one go,” said Yancy. “But only because I like you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jeremy muttered as he began pushing Yancy back towards the entrance of the bar. “ _Damn_ you're an annoying drunk.”

“And Kyle likes you,” Yancy continued on as if he hadn't heard a word Jeremy had just said. “Except, you know, in his case it's a little different, because I'm pretty sure he just _likes you_ -likes you, and...”

“Oh for fucks sake,” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “Do you _never_ shut up? Stop spewing all this nonsense.”

“It ain't nonsense if it's the damn truth...!” Yancy said in a sing-song manner.

“Oh my God...” Jeremy groaned. “Remind me to never take you out drinking again. Ever.”

Jeremy's parents arrived at the bar roughly a half hour before it was to close. His father couldn't help but to chuckle a little as he assisted Jeremy in loading Yancy into the back seat of his father's car.

“Well, _damn_ , son...!” his father said, sounding amused. “How many did you boys have?”

“Not now, Dad...” Jeremy said, trying his best to keep the whine out of his voice. “I just wanna go home...! I'm fucking tired...”

“ _Language_ , Jeremy!” his mother scolded as she held out her hand. “Now give me the keys to your lovely Blue...”

“That's _Royal_ Blue, mom...!” Jeremy said as he handed over the keys to his truck. “ _That's_ what I call her, and I'm so done with talkin' about all this love business...”

His parents both raised an eyebrow and exchanged an amused glance at that. Jeremy climbed into the passenger's seat of his father's car and began fumbling with the belt buckle as Yancy chose that moment to pipe up with his own two cents.

“Aw, c'mon, Jerry...! It ain't something to be ashamed of,” said Yancy. “You being in love with Kyle an' all...! You should just tell him!”

“Oh yeah...? And how do you suppose I'll go about doing that?” Jeremy retorted, too distracted with trying to get his seat belt to click to realize his best friend had just outed him in front of his parents. “Write a letter or somethin'? 'Dear Kyle...I've only just now realized that all this time, I've been likin' you...' blah, blah, blah, yadda-yadda, something, something, and some other shit...yeah, that'll go over _real_ well.”

“Sure! _Or_...you could quit being stubborn and just join the PPDC,” said Yancy.

“Yeah, okay,” Jeremy said in a sarcastic tone. “Because that makes a whole lot of sense. The way we left things between us, I'm sure he'll be just _ecstatic_ to see me, completely out of the blue.”

“Hey, you don't know until you try, right?” Yancy said with a slight shrug, his eyes closed and a small smile on his face.

His parents' eyebrows arched even higher at this exchange, but both Jeremy and Yancy were too far gone to notice. Jeremy finally managed to click his belt into place, and he turned and let himself smack his backside against the seat, triumphant.

“ _Finally_ got the fucking seat belt to work...! God _damn_...!”

“Well...I'm going to go on ahead and drive his truck back home,” Jeremy's mother said to his father softly.

“Yeah, right...” Jeremy's father said with a nod. “I'll bring our boy home after I drop his friend off.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jeremy's mother replied. “Take your time, dear.”

The couple exchanged a brief peck and both got into their separate vehicles. Jeremy's mother, Lisa, went one direction, while his father, Charlie, went the opposite way towards Yancy's house. After Charlie helped Yancy to his front door and opened it for him, the older man went back to his car where his son was now sleeping. The ride back home was in silence, as a result.

Charlie slipped back into bed next to his wife after guiding Jeremy to his room and tucking the younger man in as best he could. Before going back under the covers, Charlie had shed his winter coat and changed back into his pajamas. His wife turned to face him after he had comfortably settled in, head resting on her pillow, her arm bent and tucked underneath the cushion.

“Do you think it was all drunk talk or do you think they were being serious?”

Charlie didn't even have to ask; he knew what his wife was talking about. He just gave her a slight shrug.

“I don't know, Lisa...knowing our son...I have a feeling it probably wasn't a joke,” said Charlie.

His wife hummed and nodded in agreement. “...I'm inclined to agree. I think we should talk about it...?”

Charlie chuckled softly. “Hm...we can, but in the morning though, all right, darlin'? I'm feeling tired now...it's been an eventful night.”

“It sure has...okay,” said Lisa. “In the morning then.”

Charlie turned to his side and wrapped an arm around his wife when she brought herself closer to his chest. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Don't worry about it too much,” Charlie whispered into her hair as he took a whiff of her scent. “We'll figure it all out in the end, all right?”

“Well, now we know we can't really pressure him for grand-babies,” Lisa joked lightheartedly.

Charlie chuckled. “Well _good_. It's not like I'm itching to feel old anyway.”

He grunted softly and laughed when his wife lightly smacked him in the chest. “Charlie Daniels...! All these years we've been married and _still_ you're trying to find ways to get out of things, as if you don't know better! There's other ways my dream can still come true, you know...! For example, there's always adoption, and...”

“Glory be, woman!” Charlie said, half-amused and half-exasperated. “Is there just no end to all your scheming?”

“...I find it offensive that you think I'd be so easily deterred,” said Lisa. “It should be every parent's dream to see as many subsequent generations of their family as possible.”

Charlie groaned. “Just how long are you hoping we live for? Personally, I'm hoping to make an appointment with the angels in heaven well before I go senile.”

Lisa smiled as she nuzzled her husband affectionately against the crook of his neck. “Mm...as long as possible, my dear...”

Charlie laughed. “Well, it doesn't sound like I have much say in the matter now, do I...?”

His wife laughed along with him. “No, Charles...I'm afraid not.”

The couple shared a brief kiss and then both let out a contented sigh soon afterward. Lisa rested her head on top of her husband's chest and Charlie trailed his fingers soothingly up and down his wife's back.

Finally, Lisa whispered into the night just as her husband's eyes were beginning to flutter. “Charlie...”

“Hm...?” Charlie mumbled tiredly. “What is it, Lisa...?”

“...are you disappointed in our son?” Lisa asked softly.

Charlie sighed. “I thought we were going to discuss all this in the morning.”

“In more detail, yes,” Lisa said in a light retort. “But surely you can answer a simple yes or no question without too much difficulty. And technically, right now it _is_ morning...I want to talk about this _now_.”

Her husband sighed again. “Well, all right...if you need to know _right this minute_...”

“I do,” said Lisa.

Charlie's lips twitched slightly upward at the corners. “Are we sure _I'm_ the one our son gets his stubborn streak from...?”

This comment earned him another thwack to the chest. “Answer the question, Charles.”

Charlie laughed quietly. “In all seriousness, Lisa...he's _our son_...that's all I really have to say on the matter. Wouldn't you say that you feel the same way?”

“I will love our son no matter what,” Lisa declared, agreeing with her husband. “Still...I had to make sure that we were on the same page here...that we both still love him...”

Charlie frowned and squeezed his wife's shoulder in reassurance. He then gave his wife another quick peck on the top of her head.

“Of course I still love him...I'll _always_ love him,” Charlie said firmly. “Sure, I'll admit I'm a little surprised I didn't see this one coming, but regardless...he's _our son_ , and that's _that_.”

He was suddenly distracted from falling asleep entirely when he felt his wife's finger hook onto the waistline of his pants and gave it a suggestive tug. Charlie opened his eyes and looked down at his wife curiously, who was staring at him with a mischievous grin on her face. Her expression made him feel a tad wary.

“Lisa...?”

“I don't think I've ever felt so in love with you in all my life, Charlie Daniels,” his wife said whilst seductively trailing the fingers of her other hand up Charlie's chest until they reached his chin. She then tilted her husband's chin slightly upward towards her hovering lips. “And I think I'd like to give you a little something to show for it.”

Charlie gulped. “Our son's in the house...”

“Sleeping. Soundly,” Lisa said with a small smirk. “And need I remind you very, _very_ drunk...he won't hear a thing...now come on, darling, don't be shy...”

Charlie let out a strangled yelp when his wife suddenly yanked down his pants. “Lisa...!”

“Come on now, Charlie...!” his wife replied airily as she tried not to laugh and ruin the moment. “Show me that you've still got it...!”

“Oh, ho...! That a challenge?” Charlie said as he flung his wife over onto her back, eyebrows waggling playfully. “You're on, then.”

The two of them shared a laugh, giddily like a pair of teenagers. Lisa somehow managed to the situation around so that her husband was now on his back, his body pinned successfully between her legs. She then threw off her shirt and unclasped her bra in a few quick motions. Both their faces were flushed, but it was hard to tell, even with the bit of moonlight. Charlie whistled appreciatively as he placed his hands around his wife's bare torso.

“Well _hot_ _damn_ , woman...!” Charlie murmured, his eyes half-lidded with lust. “I _knew_ there was a good reason for why I went and married you...!”

“Are you implying that you forgot...?” Lisa gasped scandalously. “Well...! Let's see what we can do about making sure you never forget again...!”

And with that, Lisa Daniels set out on her mission. She and her husband quickly forgot about their household's third occupant, though not that it mattered in the slightest. Jeremy continued to sleep on soundly well into the following day, utterly oblivious to his parents' late night antics.

When Jeremy finally did wake, it was with a pounding headache, and his eyes still remained mostly shut as he stumbled into the kitchen. Had he been sober, he might have been curious about why his mother seemed to be absolutely glowing in her seat, for the first time ever reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee instead of the usual cigarette.

“Good morning, dear!” Lisa said, all chipper as her son slid into the seat across from hers.

Jeremy groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Morning, Mom... _ugh_ I have the _worst headache_ this morning...”

“Mmhmm, we know, honey, that's why your father says not to worry about showing up at work today,” his mother said casually as she pushed a small dish towards his direction. “Here. Have some painkillers. Let me go get you some water.”

“Yeah...thanks,” Jeremy said with a small sigh.

“Here,” his mother said as she placed a glass of water in front of him. “Drink up.”

Jeremy did as prescribed. His mother folded her paper.

“Now...how does having a little breakfast sound?”

Jeremy shook his head and groaned. “No...not right now...actually... _ugh_...! Be right back...!”

Lisa chuckled as she watched her son stagger out of the room and make a shaky beeline for the closest bathroom. They could always discuss the matter of her son and Kyle later, when he felt better, she supposed. Lisa returned her attention to her newspaper while she heard the faint sound of her son throwing up in the toilet. She smiled and glanced over at her phone when it pinged, alerting her to a new text message.

She'd make her son anything he wanted to eat, as soon as he was ready. Lisa and her husband had Jeremy to thank, after all, for bringing a little spice back into their relationship.

Meanwhile, that same day, Ethan and Kyle were spending a little downtime in their room at the Shatterdome. Kyle popped out of the shower to find Ethan scribbling away on some stationery; Kyle had decided to wash up first thing upon coming back from a friendly spar with his co-pilot in the Kwoon room.

“Shower's all yours,” Kyle said as he flounced on Ethan's bed, which was next to the older man's desk.

Ethan nodded somewhat absently. “Cool, thanks. I'll hit that in a minute.”

Kyle glanced over at the letter his co-pilot was working on. “You writing to someone?”

“Yeah,” Ethan said with a nod. “Jason.”

“Your brother?” Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow. “Finally decided to break the silence, then?”

Ethan chuckled and shook his head. “Nah...not exactly...”

Kyle tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

Ethan moved out of the way slightly so Kyle could see over him when he pulled open a drawer to his right. The drawer was packed full of clearly postmarked, unsent letters. Kyle looked at the older man curiously.

“You haven't mailed a single one...?” Kyle asked, the question obviously rhetorical. “Why bother writing them, then?”

Ethan shrugged, sliding the drawer shut. “Why not?”

Kyle half-smiled. “Touché.”

“Maybe you should think about doing the same for your friend?” Ethan suggested. “Here, you can even use some of my supplies. I've got plenty of paper you can use, and here's a pen.”

“Thanks, man...” Kyle said, accepting what his co-pilot was handing him.

Ethan then placed the unfinished letter in a separate drawer and got up to stretch. “At some point I'll get the nerve to send them...”

“Why don't you ask your friend?” asked Kyle.

“Who, Nate? Nah,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “I mean, I know I could, and I know Nate'll be more than happy to do it, but...it wouldn't be right, you know? That'd be like you asking your grandparents to relay your messages for you.”

Kyle nodded, understanding. “You're right. Fair enough.”

Ethan gave the brunette a smile before heading towards the bathroom. “Hey, no pressure though, you know? If you decide you're not comfortable with writing anything, there's really nothing wrong with that.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Kyle.

He moved over to his side of the room shortly after Ethan locked himself in the bathroom. Kyle sat down on his bed and stared at the paper he was holding for a good long while. Finally, he sighed and set the pen and paper Ethan had given him on top of his own desk before flopping back onto his own bed dejectedly, throwing an arm over his eyes.

“Maybe later...” Kyle muttered softly to himself. “When I actually think of something a lot less cringe-worthy to say aside from how much I miss him or how it's been a long time since we've said a word to each other...”

His mind began to wander, wondering how his longtime friend was doing. As far as Kyle was concerned, their friendship never truly ended; he and Jeremy were just in the middle of a really long fight. One that would last for the next two years. In that period of time, each man would make numerous attempts at making the first move, but neither would actually follow through. The cycle would eventually break, however, and it all began with Kyle getting word that two of his friends from back home were finally joining the PPDC.

Ethan answered the knock at their room door; Kyle was still fast asleep on his bed. On the other side of the door was a fellow Ranger wearing a messenger bag. Ethan raised an eyebrow.

“Uh...can I help you?” he asked.

“Yes,” the young man responded with a curt nod before rummaging in his back. “Internal mail service...is there someone by the name of Kyle Hunter in this room?”

Ethan nodded. “Yeah, there is. He's my co-pilot...you got a message for him?”

“Yes, sir!” the Ranger replied, holding out a card. “From the Naval Division.”

“Ah...” Ethan said as he accepted the envelope. “Thanks...I'll make sure he gets this.”

“Thank you, sir! Have a nice day!”

Ethan shut the door after the man turned to leave and rubbed at the back of his neck while looking down at the card in his hand. Embossed on the front in cursive were two names, Martin and Charlotte Hunter, addressed to their son. Ethan walked over to Kyle's bed and gently shook his partner on the shoulder.

“Hey...” Ethan said, speaking in a low volume. “Come on, man...wake up. You've got some mail from your folks.”

Kyle groaned softly and turned over onto his backside. He rubbed at his eyes while at the same time stretching the rest of his body. Slowly, he got up into a sitting position and held out his hand for the card Ethan was holding, all while trying to blink away his sleep. Ethan handed over the card and chuckled.

“...wonder what this is about?” Kyle mumbled sleepily.

Ethan shrugged. “Beats me, man. Open it.”

“Hm...yeah...” Kyle said as he began to tear open the envelope.

Ethan watched with interest as Kyle's eyes raked over the words written in the letter; he felt himself smile a little in amusement as his co-pilot's eyes grew wider and wider. Ethan chuckled when Kyle finally looked up at him, grinning wildly.

“What? What is it?” Ethan asked. “Good news?”

“Is it ever!” Kyle said, nodding with excitement. “It's Yancy and Raleigh...!”

Ethan tilted his head to the side. “Your friends from back home?”

“Yeah, that's right!” Kyle said, still smiling.

“What about them?” Ethan asked.

“What do you think, man? They're coming!” Kyle said, showing all of his teeth. “My parents caught word of it, and they thought I'd like to be one of the first to know. They want me to come meet them for lunch so we can talk about it!”

“Well isn't that something,” Ethan said with a smile, knowing how Kyle enjoyed spending time with his parents when he could—not exactly an easy task, given how different the schedules were between regular branches of the military and the PPDC.

“Yeah, I'd better get ready,” Kyle said, getting out of his bed, wide awake.

“It's only seven,” Ethan said with a slight chuckle, amused.

“Whatever. I'm going to go over there early,” said Kyle. “Unless we've got any duties to take care of?”

“Just a few,” Ethan said with a laugh. “The usual diagnostics. If we hit all the simulators now, we should be done in no time.”

“Well, then let's get moving!” Kyle said, smiling.

Ethan nodded, going to his drawer for a change of clothes. “You've got it, man.”

The pair completed their exercises in record time, and Kyle made it over to his parents' department with about an hour left to spare. His parents, of course, took no issue with the fact that their son had come to visit them early.

His mother greeted him with a smile. “Kyle! I see that our message was well-received?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said with a nod. “Hi, Mom.”

“Good to see you as always, son,” Kyle's father said with a curt nod.

“Shall we walk over to mess?” Kyle's mother asked. “We have much to discuss.”

“That we do,” Kyle's father agreed with a nod. “You ready, son?”

Kyle nodded again. “Yes, sir.”

“Then let's go,” said his father.

Martin Hunter drove straight to the point after he, along with his wife and son, had settled at a table in the cafeteria with their food. Kyle waited until his father picked up some of his utensils before lifting his own.

“So,” Martin said as he began cutting into his steak. “Your friends are set to be here by the end of six months. They'll be heading to the academy first for training, as you know.”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah. So I guess in actuality, I won't be seeing them for a few more months, right?”

“Technically, you'd be correct,” his father said with a nod.

Kyle raised an eyebrow. “But...?”

Charlotte, his mother, smiled warmly at him. “You've been a member of the PPDC a little over three years now.”

“That makes you a bit of a veteran, in their ranks,” Martin helpfully supplied.

“Okay...?” Kyle said somewhat hesitantly, confused. “So what exactly does that mean?”

“We asked to be the ones to tell you the news,” his mother said kindly.

“You are being afforded the opportunity to choose one of your friends to mentor at the academy,” said Martin.

“Whoa, really?” Kyle said excitedly before quickly clearing his throat in an attempt to cover up his surprise, but failing miserably. “I uh...wow. That's great...! That's _fantastic_...!”

“That means you'll be away from you co-pilot for a while,” his father continued. “Unless you would rather he mentor the friend you decide not to choose.”

Kyle scrunched his nose at his father's last statement. “Well...couldn't I just mentor the both of them?”

His mother half-smiled. “Well...we _did_ happen to ask about that ourselves, didn't we, Martin?”

“Yes,” his father confirmed with a nod. “But they mentioned that everyone goes through all phases of the program at the same time.”

“They said you cannot train two people to Drift at once,” said Charlotte. “Experienced pilots are supposedly a different story, but at the very beginning, it's said to be more complicated and at times very taxing...”

“Ah,” Kyle said nodding. “That's right. I totally forgot about that...that makes sense. Darn...if only...!”

He trailed off and his mother arched one of her elegant eyebrows. “Oh...? If only what?”

“Well if we switched the order of just two of the phases for one brother,” said Kyle. “Then it's totally possible. I could Drift with one while focus on sparring with the other, and vice versa when it's time for a change.”

He took a bite of his steak and missed the look that his parents exchanged. Charlotte leaned over to her husband and murmured a few words to which her husband responded to with an affirmative nod.

“All right, very good,” Martin said, and his son looked up. “We'll see what we can do to have that taken care of.”

Kyle blinked. “Huh...? Er...I mean...if you wouldn't mind clarifying a little on that point...?”

“At ease, dear,” Charlotte said with a small smile. “Right now we're meeting as a family here.”

“A family of soldiers,” Martin said gruffly. “The boy did right, Charlotte.”

The older man's stiff posture shriveled quickly, however, upon receiving a sharp, disapproving glare from his wife. Martin cleared his throat and looked back at his son.

“I...”

“It's all right, Dad,” Kyle said, shaking his head.

“What your father is _trying_ to say,” Charlotte said gently. “Is that your father and I know some people who we can talk to; see if maybe we can find a way to arrange for you to mentor both of your friends. We've heard from your grandparents that you grew up together with these boys quite closely.”

“Wasn't there a third one though, son?” Martin asked, shaking his head. “I vaguely remember there being one other boy that you were almost always with.”

“Oh...yeah...” Kyle said, wincing slightly. “There is. Jeremy Daniels is probably who you're thinking about, Dad...”

“Ah! That's right!” his father said, nodding approvingly. “The Daniels boy! He seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. His father also seemed like a respectable man. I've spoken with him maybe once or twice.”

“They're both good men,” Kyle agreed.

“Does he not have interest in joining the PPDC?” his father asked.

“Ah...nah,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “He followed his father into the construction business.”

“Oh, well that is a shame,” Martin said as he began to sound nostalgic. “There's always something special about a band of brothers from home signing up and joining the service together.”

“Well...maybe he just wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, like our son did, dear,” Charlotte said gently, as if sensing her son's discomfort.

“Hm...well, there sure is something to respect about that as well,” Martin said with a nod. “Far as I can tell though, you have some good friends, son. I'm proud of you.”

His father's praise lifted his mood, and Kyle beamed as he resumed eating his meal. “Thanks, Dad...I appreciate that.”

When Kyle finally returned to his shared room later that day, he walked in and flashed Ethan a pearly-white smile that went all the way to his eyes. Ethan chuckled upon seeing his co-pilot enter the room.

“Good talk?” Ethan asked.

“ _Good. Talk,_ ” Kyle confirmed happily as he jumped onto his bed and sprawled out. He placed his hands behind his head and turned over to look at Ethan, still grinning wildly. “I get to mentor _both_ Raleigh and Yancy when they arrive at the academy.”

“Both of them?” Ethan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Kyle said with an enthusiastic nod.

Ethan chuckled. “Ah...so I guess that means you'll be leaving for a while, eh?”

“Oh, yeah...! That's right!” Kyle said, getting up suddenly and flashing his friend an apologetic look. “Sorry, man...I leave in a few days.”

“Nah, it's all right,” Ethan said with a shrug. “I'm happy for you, man. Glad you get to see your friends.”

“Yeah...thanks for understanding,” Kyle said with a nod.

“Hey, no sweat,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “Hell, I'd be real excited too, if it was someone I knew and was close to.”

Kyle smiled. “Yeah...part of me wishes I could just go over there right now!”

Ethan laughed. “They wouldn't even be there yet though, would they?”

“Nah, they wouldn't,” said Kyle. “Still...!”

“Yeah, man, I understand,” said Ethan. “I totally feel your excitement. So...! I guess it'll be six months before I see you next?”

“Yeah, probably,” Kyle said with a nod. “Unless they call me back for something in between.”

“Doubt they will,” said Ethan. “It'd have to be one big as hell Kaiju for them to want to pull someone from mentoring other pilots to help deal with the situation.”

“Yeah, I bet you're right,” Kyle agreed. “They'll probably do everything they can to avoid interrupting training. The whole process is accelerated as it is.”

“Well, I hope you have fun, man,” Ethan said with a smile. “Just try not to have _too_ much fun without me. I'd like to get in on the party.”

“Yeah, don't worry,” said Kyle. “I'll be sure to introduce you guys when the time comes.”

Ethan chuckled. “Sounds like a plan, man.”

Back in Kyle's hometown, Yancy and Raleigh were busy preparing to leave the city for Kodiak Island, where the Alaskan Jaeger Academy was located. Yancy's friend Jeremy came by to help with the packing after he got off of work that day.

“So my parents and I will be watching over the house and whatever else you guys will need us to take care of while you're both away,” said Jeremy. “We'll make sure the renters stick to the agreements y'all have set and so on...”

“Thanks, man,” said Yancy.

“Yeah, we appreciate it, Jay,” Raleigh added with a nod.

Jeremy helped load the last of Yancy and Raleigh's things into the bed of his truck. Once he clicked his truck's tailgate into place, he turned to look at the two brothers with one hand resting on his hip while using the other to rub at the back of his neck.

“Well, that everything?” he asked, looking mostly at Yancy. “All that's left is to give y'all a ride to the airport, right?”

“Yeah,” Yancy said with a nod.

“Sure we can't change your mind, Jay?” Raleigh asked. “It's never too late to join...so long as the Kaiju pose a threat, the PPDC are always in need of Rangers.”

Jeremy opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it and gave Raleigh a sheepish smile instead, the words he had been about to say dying on his lips. He was never really good at articulating his feelings; he had no idea how to explain how even if he changed his mind, to join the PPDC on Raleigh's suggestion felt wrong because Jeremy had denied Kyle when he had asked years before. Of course his stubbornness and pride was also a factor, but truth be told, Jeremy was also afraid. He feared discovering that in their time apart and period of prolonged silence, he and Kyle would be unable to bridge the gap that had formed between them. Though he didn't voice any of this, Raleigh seemed to understand and just simply nodded after a moment.

“All right,” Raleigh said, responding to Jeremy despite the fact that the dark-haired man hadn't said anything aloud at all. “Well if you ever _do_ change your mind, just know that we'll all be there ready to welcome you.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Jeremy. “I appreciate the thought, man.”

“Sure.”

Jeremy quirked an eyebrow at his friend as Raleigh climbed into the truck. “You can talk to me while we drive, you know...I'm the one driving y'all to the damn airport.”

“Yeah, well maybe I wanted to have some private words with my best friend before I go,” said Yancy.

Jeremy snorted. “All right, whatever, man...shoot.”

“You seem to be sure about not joining, and I get that, man,” Yancy said with a nod. “But hey, don't be a stranger to us...all right? I'll come by to visit as much as I can...I'm sure Rals will be tagging along with me for that, so you'll probably see him too.”

“Yeah, okay, man,” Jeremy said with a small smile on his face. “We done being sappy now, or what?”

Yancy laughed. “At the very least, write us a letter or something. Heck, write Kyle one. I'm sure he'd really like to hear from you, man...”

“Aw, hell...” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “Just get in the damn car, man. Enough already.”

The blonde chuckled softly. “You're a stubborn man, Jerry...! One of these days you're going to have to find it in you to be honest with yourself...”

“Yeah, man...I know,” Jeremy said with a small laugh as he and Yancy turned to climb into the blue truck. “One of these days.”

“I'm serious, man,” said Yancy.

“Serious about what?” Raleigh asked.

Yancy buckled himself in. Jeremy did the same while at the same time starting up the engine.

“Nothing, man,” Jeremy said with a smile. “Except how I really need to get y'all out of my hair as soon as possible.”

The three men all shared a laugh as Jeremy drove the brothers to the airport. When they finally made it there, Yancy and Jeremy exchanged a handshake. Raleigh surprised the dark-haired man by giving him a gripping hug. Jeremy pat Raleigh somewhat awkwardly on the back.

“Hey now, Raleigh...!” Jeremy said softly as he ruffled a bit of the younger man's hair. “What's goin' on with you...?”

“Just going to miss you, Jay...” Raleigh admitted. “Wish you could come with us.”

“Hey, it'll be okay,” Jeremy said as he gently pried Raleigh off of his body and squeezed the younger man's shoulders reassuringly. “You'll do great. You and Yancy were made for this sort of thing, you know? Wanting to fight Kaiju just runs through your blood.”

“Come on, kid,” Yancy said, placing a hand on Raleigh's shoulder. “Time to go or we'll miss our flight.”

“Yeah...okay,” Raleigh said nodding.

Yancy then looked at Jeremy and held out his right hand. Jeremy smiled as he clasped it, and the two shook hands firmly.

“You take care, Yancy,” said Jeremy.

Yancy grinned. “Right back at you, Jerry.”

“Go on, get out of here now, y'all,” said Jeremy. “I'll stand right here until you both go out of sight.”

“All right,” Yancy said with a nod. “Sounds good. C'mon, Rals.”

“Coming, Yance.”

Both brothers kept glancing over their shoulder every so many steps. The look on Jeremy's face was, for the most part, neutral. At some point, just before they became completely out of each other's view, the pair of brothers saw Jeremy raise up one of his hands in a silent farewell.

Raleigh's eyes were downcast as he and his brother headed for their terminal. Yancy seemed equally sullen.

“It doesn't feel right, does it?” Raleigh asked after they had gone through a checkpoint. “Us leaving Jay behind like that.”

“No, it doesn't,” Yancy agreed. “But the man made his choice, and he's sticking by it.”

Raleigh sighed. “Maybe Kyle'll be less stubborn when we see him...?”

“I don't know,” Yancy said, shaking his head. “We'll see after one of us talks to him.”

“Hm...” Raleigh hummed in agreement.

A few hours later, they arrived at the Jaeger Academy in Kodiak. They were greeted almost immediately by a very welcome and familiar face almost as soon as they entered the building.

“ _Well I'll be damned! Yancy and Raleigh Becket!”_

Both Raleigh and Yancy turned to face the brunette, and though they all hadn't seen each other in a while, they all recognized each other at once. The two brothers simultaneously broke out into huge grins.

“Good to see you, Kyle,” said Yancy.

The two older men exchanged a few friendly words. Yancy rode on the opportunity of Kyle's willingness to talk about Jeremy a little bit and decided to use it to help him segue into his suggestion.

“You two keep in touch still?” Yancy asked his friend, even knowing full well what the answer to that question was.

“Nah,” Kyle said, just as Yancy expected he would. “That man’s always been difficult to get a hold of...and I don’t think he’s the snail mail type. I haven’t talked to him in a long time.”

“I don’t think he considers himself below writing a handwritten letter or two,” Yancy said with a slight shrug, feigning nonchalance. “You should try to reach out. I’m sure he’d be glad to hear from you.”

Kyle laughed softly, his eyes becoming warm and thoughtful. “Yeah. Maybe. I’ll think about it.”

And he did, but it took some time before Kyle finally gathered enough nerve to actually sit down and write the letter. It was mostly thanks to Ethan that he was able to do so.

“Just do it, man,” Ethan said to Kyle on the day that they were discussing the matter. “I mean, what could it hurt, right? It's not like you guys are talking now, so...if he doesn't respond, then your relationship won't really be any different than how it is as it currently stands now, will it?”

“No...I suppose not,” Kyle said with a nod. “But I don't see you sending out yours to your brother either.”

“Hah, you're right,” Ethan said with a laugh. “I'll give you that. Okay, so how about this then...?”

“Yeah?” asked Kyle.

“We can just send one out together,” said Ethan. “You let me know when you've written one and you're ready to mail it out...I'll go on ahead and mail one out with you.”

He waited patiently as he watched Kyle think about it for a minute. After a while, his co-pilot nodded.

“All right,” Kyle said, nodding at Ethan agreeably. “You're on. Let's do it.”

“Whenever you're ready,” said Ethan.

Kyle eventually wrote one huge mess of a letter; he included everything from what he, Yancy, and Raleigh were doing all the way to blatantly confessing his love to the dark-haired man. When Kyle mailed the letter out, it was along with one of Ethan's letters to Nathaniel. Ethan hadn't specified which of the letters he was going to send when he had made that promise, and Kyle ended up not being able to say anything about it because _technically_ , Ethan hadn't gone against his word. Kyle was determined though, to have his co-pilot send out one of his many letters through the post for his brother one day.

When Jeremy received Kyle's letter, it was when his mother handed it to him just before he left to work that day. He ended up reading it while sitting atop a beam for pretty much the entirety of his hour-long break; it was that lengthy.

After he'd finished reading, Jeremy went ahead and bought two bottles of Jack Daniel's whiskey at a liquor store. He then spent the next few days trying to figure out how to formulate his reply.

Kyle burst into the room he shared with Ethan several days later, on the morning of the Yamarashi fight, excited beyond belief as he waved an envelope around in Ethan's face. His co-pilot swatted him away as he chuckled.

“All right, what is it?” Ethan asked. “What's got you so crazy and bouncing off the walls?”

“He wrote back to me!” Kyle said happily. “Jeremy, I mean...he wrote back!"

Ethan smiled. “Ah...hey! Congratulations, man!”

“Thank you!” Kyle said brightly with a smile. “Geez, man...! I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't encouraged me...! I didn't think that he'd respond, but he did, and I'm so very glad that I took my chances! It all worked out in the end.”

“Sure did, man! Anyway...we're needed in the hangar,” said Ethan. “You heard the announcement, right?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said. “You're talking about the big Kaiju that just popped out from the breach not too long ago, right?”

“Right. They're calling it Yamarashi,” said Ethan. “It's a Category Three—supposed to be the largest one yet to date.”

“I'm ready to go,” said Kyle. “Man...I need to share all this good news with Yancy!”

Ethan chuckled. “So you've forgiven him, then...? I don't know if you guys are still arguing or not. Anyway, regardless, I'm sure you'll run into him at some point; we're all supposed to go and suit up.”

“Yeah, you're right!” Kyle said excitedly. “Hey...I'm going to go on ahead first, okay?”

“Sounds good to me,” Ethan said with a nod. “I'll catch up with you in a bit.”

“Okay!” said Kyle.

Ethan chuckled as he watched his co-pilot practically skip away from him in excitement. He found himself sobering after a minute and he walked over to his desk. He opened up one of the drawers that contained a slew of cards addressed to his own younger brother. Opening another drawer, Ethan got out a single stamp and slapped it onto the front of the envelope. He then got dressed in the proper attire and headed out of the room. He handed off the letter to a fellow, off-duty Ranger that he ran into in the hallway on the way to get suited up for the Yamarashi battle.

There was only one thought then, on Ethan's mind as he made his way towards the hangar. He was nervous and hoped that by some miracle, he would be able to rekindle the relationship between himself and his little brother, just like it seemed Kyle and Jeremy were starting to get back on track. He had no idea that in the end, he would never really be given that chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And on an unrelated note...I changed my avatar for a while and decided I didn't like what I changed it to, so I changed it back. Lolol. I don't know why I thought I needed a change anyway.


	7. Regret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for Ishyko. :) Perhaps you can consider it a Christmas gift? Hahaha. I hope you like it! Can you believe there's only four chapters left to go for this part?? AND A PART IV (an alternate ending to THIS alternate ending) IS COMING, thanks to SublimeDiscordance, who keeps inspiring my muse to write MORE. That should be it for the series though. It'll be sad to let the series go when the time finally comes, but all good things must come to an end, right?
> 
> Oh, and Part IV will have more Becketcest. In fact, it might almost be even-split again like it was for Bitter and Sweeter, since I'll have to rewrite quite a few scenes from both of those to make them work in the fourth story. The whole thing will be tackled from a different angle, so changes are inevitable.
> 
> Hopefully I'll have more posted up before the holiday season ends. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday! :D
> 
> By the way, forgot to write this in the author's not earlier so I'm sticking it in now, lol. Definitely made up Yamarashi's abilities. They are just loosely based off what I read from the Wikia. Just as a heads up for anyone who cares. :p

It was an unexpected, but welcome development. Kyle had forgiven him. 

For what it was worth, Yancy was at least somewhat glad for the fight. Up until that point, he wasn't sure whether or not he had been aware of how much he had been taking his childhood friends for granted, or how much he really valued them, deep down. 

Kyle bubbled over with excitement about receiving a letter from Jeremy. Yancy smiled. 

“ _Good man, Jerry,”_ Yancy thought to himself.

The Kaiju alarm went off over their heads. Though the pilots being deployed had already been given their orders, a formal announcement was now being made to make the rest of the Shatterdome aware of the developing situation.

“ _Kaiju breach. Category Three. Team Gipsy and Team Tango, please report…”_

Both men exchanged a few last words as they made their way towards the hangar. Kyle met his co-pilot in the Conn-Pod of their Jaeger shortly after depositing his things in a locker and parting ways with Yancy. Ethan was already suited up, waiting for him. 

“How'd it go?” Ethan asked as several technicians ushered the pair to their respective places.

“Fine,” Kyle said, flashing the other man one of his bright smiles before turning his head to face forward when one of the attendants instructed him to do so. “All's right with the world again.” 

Ethan chuckled, now also facing forward. “Well, _hallelujah_.” 

Kyle's response was purely reactive. He blinked and turned his head abruptly, earning himself a brief scolding from one of the Shatterdome technicians assisting him. Perhaps it was his co-pilot's tone of voice or his uncharacteristic word choice, but for a fleeting moment, Kyle could have sworn that it was someone else next to him and not Ethan. He inwardly berated himself for such an absurd thought. After all, given how many times they'd Drifted together at that point, it shouldn't have come as any sort of surprise to Kyle that Ethan had picked up a few of a certain dark-haired man's ticks. 

As Tango Tasmania was being transported to its intended destination, Ethan looked over at the brunette and quirked an eyebrow. Sensing his gaze, Kyle glanced at his co-pilot from the corner of his eye.

“Problem?” 

“No,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “It's just...you seem awfully quiet all of a sudden.”

“Oh,” Kyle said, blushing slightly. 

Ethan chuckled. “Something up?”

“Nah, nothing important,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “Just got distracted for a second, you know?”

Ethan laughed. “All right, well, get your head in the game man. They're going to have us perform the neural handshake as soon as we hit the ground.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Kyle said with a nod. “I know. This ain't our first rodeo.”

“Could've fooled me,” Ethan teased.

Kyle scrunched his nose. “Shut up.” 

Ethan smiled and turned his head to face forward again just before they landed. He shrugged one of his shoulders. 

“Sorry,” he said, not sounding the least bit apologetic at all. “Couldn't help myself. You're too easy to pluck sometimes, you know? I can see why...” 

The older pilot trailed off as the neural handshake process initiated. Caught slightly off-guard, Kyle failed to conceal the source of his earlier distraction from Ethan during the Drift, and the brunette felt his face burn all the more brightly when he heard Ethan's laughter reverberate through the Drift. 

“So that's what it was,” Ethan said, his tone lighthearted and amused. “Can't really say I'm surprised.” 

Kyle gave his co-pilot a glare, but there was no ire behind it. He tensed his jaw in order to keep from smiling, and he shook his head. 

“Not another word, Bentley.” 

“Ouch! I've been reduced to a last name now, eh?” Ethan responded with a grin. “That's cold.”

The roar of the angry Kaiju they were meant to engage brought both men immediately back to rapt attention. They used their usual strategy. Ethan took a moment to analyze both the Kaiju and their surroundings. Kyle used whatever information Ethan provided him through the Drift to quickly formulate a plan. 

It was a rookie mistake, the way they had been briefly distracted by their off-topic conversation before. They had wasted a few precious seconds in doing so, though the dire consequences as a result of this wouldn't become apparent until a short while later. 

“ _We've got more experience. I think we should take it from the front,”_ Ethan projected his thought to Kyle through the Drift. _“What do you think?”_

“ _I'm inclined to agree,”_ Kyle thought back. _“Let me tell 'em.”_

Kyle raised one of his hands and flicked the switch that would allow them to communicate with their fellow pilots, keeping his eyes on Yamarashi as he did so. He could faintly hear Ethan murmuring more observation notes through their Drift connection. The ground beneath them rumbled when the beast let out an angry roar. 

“Tango to Gipsy,” said Kyle. “Do you copy?” 

“ _Loud and clear, Kyle,”_ Yancy's voice crackled back through. _“What's our play?”_

“Gotta find a weak spot, man,” said Kyle. “You guys take it from the back. Ethan and I will attack it from the front.” 

“ _All right. Roger that. Be careful.”_

Kyle half-smiled. For some reason he found himself oddly reminded of Jeremy once again. 

“Right back at'cha,” he said to Yancy before cutting off communications. 

“Here it comes, Kyle!” Ethan said out loud. “Ready or not, man...!” 

The ferocious Kaiju charged towards them with tremendous speed, and for the third time that day, Kyle found himself thinking about Jeremy. The brunette could almost hear what the other man might have said in that exact moment. 

“ _Holy **shit** that is one fast and ugly motherfucker.”_

He felt Ethan's mental frown. _“Head in the game, Kyle! Come on! What's with you today?”_

Kyle didn't respond, but if he were going to be honest, he really didn't know. Perhaps his having received Jeremy's reply to his letter earlier that day was to blame. Regardless, Kyle kept finding it difficult to focus entirely on the battle.

 _“_ _Shit,”_ Kyle thought to himself, feeling an unusual sense of foreboding. _“Maybe I should have read the letter when I got it.”_

“A little late for that now, man...!” Ethan shouted as both men raised their arms simultaneously to command their Jaeger to fire a shot. “Nothing but positive thoughts, all right? One more kill under our belt and when we get back, you'll get a chance to read your friend's letter. Keep your mind clear! Come on!” 

They fired a series of missiles, but the creature merely shook them off. For the moment, they were holding their ground, but the large beast seemed unaffected by most of their blows. 

“ _Fuck!_ ” Kyle growled in frustration. “The hell is this damn thing made of?” 

“No idea. The skin on this one's a lot tougher than the others we've fought before,” Ethan said as he smacked at several buttons. 

In doing so, the older man accidentally flipped on the communications line between Jaeger teams. At almost that exact moment, Yamarashi roared and revealed an aspect to its spiky armor that both pilots had somehow missed during their initial evaluation. The Kaiju had the ability to use the needles protruding from its armored skin like extra limbs. 

Ethan realized this and relayed the information to his co-pilot about a second too late. His eyes widened as the pins seemed to grow in length and rain down on their Jaeger like sharp vines. The Kaiju's enormous body kept what was happening to their Jaeger out of the view of Gipsy Danger's pilots.

“Oh _fuck!_ ” Ethan screamed. “Holy shi—” 

He didn't get to finish his exclamation as the sharp extensions of the Jaeger suddenly thundered through, ripping Tango Tasmania to shreds. A million thoughts raced through Ethan's mind at once as he watched, frozen in terror as their Jaeger was being torn apart. He let out a yelp of pain as he felt himself get cut in various places by sharp, dislodged fragments of their Jaeger. 

In contrast, the final thought that crossed Kyle's mind, as he was being pierced through the gut by a stray piece of metal, wasn't about his parents, life after death, or even about Jeremy. No—the last thought that Kyle had was painfully pure and raw. His mental scream was so loud it momentarily distracted Ethan from focusing on his own physical injuries. 

“ _Holy **fuck** that **hurts**...!”_

Then all at once there was nothing. Kyle was gone. 

The silence that followed was so sudden, so incredibly unexpected, that it threw Ethan immediately into shock and he began to seize. Then, something strange happened. 

Without explanation, Ethan found himself mentally thrust deep into the Drift. The darkness that was there receded without warning, revealing a very different scene. To see color again at all, even if it was all very monochromatic, gave Ethan a small spark of hope only because of what he hoped it meant. 

Typically for pilots, when engaged in combat, the Drift tended to reflect each individual's physical, mental, and emotional states. Which was why Ethan felt a ray of hope now—if Kyle was truly dead, then seeing anything in the Drift should be impossible, since it takes at least two people to operate. Of course, there was also one other possibility, but Ethan didn't want to entertain that thought now. 

It took him a few moments to gather his bearings, and it was the sound of a young child crying that immediately grabbed his attention. Ethan turned his head in the direction of the wailing and saw a boy standing in the middle of a scenery of broken buildings and debris. The little boy was sobbing uncontrollably, holding an arm over his eyes. If it hadn't been for their private Drift sessions together, navigating through their childhood memories, Ethan would have never recognized the young brunette standing before him as Kyle. He did though, and the whole situation should have been a lot stranger than it was had it not been for the circumstances. 

Even in the Drift Ethan's body felt heavy, and he wondered if it was perhaps his mind carrying over his current physical condition outside of the Drift into his subconscious. He didn't dwell on the thought for too long, however. Had he the luxury of time, Ethan might have let himself marvel over how realistic the Drift could be. 

Ethan's voice was somewhat hoarse when he called out to his co-pilot. “ _Kyle!_ ”

The little boy turned to look at him with his tear-streaked face. When their eyes met, all at once, Ethan was overwhelmed by his co-pilot's emotions fear, sadness, and regret. Whatever ray of hope he had held just moments before was quashed. Ethan wasn't sure how he knew, but he got the sense that his co-pilot really was dead, and that there was a significance to the form the other man had chosen. 

“I'm dead, aren't I?” the young version of Kyle cried. 

Ethan found himself at a bit of a loss for words. The young boy's face contorted with distress.

“How am I even here?”

Ethan felt his chest constrict. Tightly, he shook his head. The other man's despair became his own. 

“I...I don't know, Kyle,” Ethan said as he shrugged helplessly, shaking his head. 

Tears rolled down the young boy's cheeks. “I'm never going to get to see him again, Ethan!” 

Ethan's heart sank. He knew his co-pilot well enough by then to not feel the need to ask the other man to expand on his statement. 

There was no reasonable explanation as to how they were still able to have this conversation. It appeared, however, that a part of Kyle had somehow managed to latch onto the Drift, though it was clearly by accident. Ethan had heard the whispers in the Shatterdome that the spirits of deceased pilots still plugged into the Drift sometimes managed to continue existing in the Drift plane, though _how_ this actually happened was still deemed a mystery. Of course, as far as Ethan knew, those were just rumors with no official report to back up the speculations. Regardless, for whatever reason, it appeared that Kyle had been given a little extra time. Truth be told, there really wasn't such a thing as _enough time_ , not for a human; the reality was some people went sooner rather than later, and in Kyle's case, it was going to be _sooner_. There was also no such thing as one being truly ready to accept the inevitable; there was only trying to put it off for as long as one could. 

Or make the last few moments as easy as possible. Ethan suddenly felt heavily weighed down by the realization of what he felt was his last responsibility to his co-pilot and friend. 

“No, Kyle, you will, don't worry...” Ethan said, his voice shaking. “Everything is going to be all right...” 

Kyle screamed, his boyish face contorted with rage. “Don't lie to me!” 

“No...! No, Kyle...I'm not,” Ethan said, tears trickling down his face as he chuckled weakly. “It's going to be all right, man...I promise you.”

The little boy's eyes were glassy, filled with anguish. When he spoke again, his voice was soft and sad. 

“How...?” Kyle asked, his hands slowly curling into tight little fists at his sides. “I don't...I don't understand...” 

“Just close your eyes...” Ethan choked out the words with a small, rueful smile. “Think hard about the person who means the most to you, and let everything else just fall away.” 

“ _It won't be the same.”_

The thought cut through both men like a knife, and neither one was sure which one of them had thought it, but they mutually agreed that it didn't really matter. Not a whole lot did, at the end. 

“Kyle... _come on_ ,” Ethan said, voice uncharacteristically desperate and yet encouraging at the same time. “The person you most want to see...” 

Kyle remained in his youthful form, tears still flowing steadily down his face.  Ethan placed his hands on Kyle's shoulders and squeezed them lightly.  


“Come on, man...you know who I'm talking about,” Ethan coaxed gently. “Just think hard about it. _Who?_ ” 

Then everything went pitch black as the Drift reset itself like a computer rebooting its operating system. Ethan threw all he had into recalling just every little detail Kyle had ever allowed him to have access to, so that he could be prepared to properly execute his role. He was ready when one name echoed clearly through the Drift. 

“ _Jeremy._ ” 

Suddenly, Ethan found himself thrust into a scene he didn't recognize. Only when he heard Kyle chuckle beside him did Ethan realize that the other man was beside him, holding his hand. When he looked into the brunette's eyes, they were slightly moist. 

“Jack...” Kyle whispered, squeezing Ethan's hand gently. “I've missed you.” 

Ethan swallowed the lump in his throat before responding in Jeremy's voice, as Kyle remembered it. “Yeah. I know. Me too.” 

The younger man reached out for an embrace and Ethan wrapped his arms around the brunette. Kyle then closed his eyes and pressed their foreheads together, a small smile on his lips. 

“I'm sorry...” he said softly, voice strangled. 

Ethan couldn't help but to laugh quietly. “For what, man...?” 

“For not telling you what we both already know...what I know you'd probably rather do anything in order to avoid admitting,” Kyle said, leaning his body in closer. “So I'll just be the one to say it first, like I should have done earlier...because I know better.” 

Kyle opened his eyes then, and to Ethan's credit, he didn't flinch away in surprise. Kyle's lips quirked a little higher at the corners. 

“I've always known better.” 

Ethan blinked in surprise as the next words that came out of his mouth were clearly scripted, and he wondered at when Kyle had time to learn how to manipulate another person's actions. Though he supposed anything was possible in the Drift, if a person really put his or her mind to it. 

“Y-yeah? And uh...what's that, man?” 

Kyle laughed and Ethan closed his eyes as the younger man closed the gap between them; Ethan assumed that Kyle was moving in for a kiss and braced himself, not knowing what to expect since the last guy that ever kissed him was Nathaniel, and it had only been the one time. Kyle surprised him, however, for while he did lean in for a kiss, he gave Ethan an affectionate peck on the cheek instead of on the lips. 

“ _He always was socially awkward,”_ Ethan heard Kyle's mildly amused thoughts answer in response to the older man's unasked question. _“Haven't talked to him in a while, but I bet he still is... **damn** I regret not having read that letter he sent me before we went on this ride...”_

“ _Shut up, Kyle. You're going to make it,”_ Ethan thought stubbornly, even though both men knew it was a lie. 

It was so very much like someone else, and yet at the same time, Ethan thought he felt the same exact way too, in that moment. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so emotionally torn; his heart sank when Kyle spoke softly into his ear. 

“We both know I'm not, Jack,” Kyle said, his voice slightly trembling. “I'll be seeing you...” 

It was as close to a declaration of love as he was going to get in Jeremy's stead. Ethan heard Kyle's message clearly and it was one he could respect without taking any of it personally. There were heartfelt words and actions meant only for one specific person, and Kyle was planning on keeping it that way. Telling them to a mirage or not saying them at all, it was almost the same thing, in a sense, and neither would really provide the perfect closure the brunette sought. Instead, he took as much advantage of the opportunity as he could while at the same time thanking his friend for the gift. Aside from that, this was goodbye. 

Ethan's jaw tightened and he shook his head. “Shit, Kyle...”

Darkness was starting to overtake the imagined scenery, a subtle signal that whatever was left of Kyle was about to slip away. The brunette clapped a hand firmly on Ethan's shoulder. 

“You can lift the illusion now, man,” Kyle said. “Thanks.” 

Ethan wordlessly complied. Kyle smiled at him warmly before giving the older man a grateful hug. 

“Thanks, brother...” Kyle whispered. 

Ethan sighed. “Wish there was more I could do for you.” 

Kyle pulled away from him, chuckling. “You've done enough, man. Now get out of here. I don't want to pull you down with me, not if there's still a chance you can make it.” 

Ethan shook his head. “Doesn't seem likely. I think there's a higher chance that I'll be right behind you.” 

“Shit...this is all my fault,” Kyle said with a frown. “I'm sorry...”

“No, man...” Ethan said, shaking his head. “We were both off our rhythm today. Regardless, it's too late for regrets, now, don't you think?” 

“Yeah...” Kyle said, his eyes blinking with tears. “But maybe, at the very least, you'll find a way to make it.” 

“Come on, Kyle...” Ethan said with a half-smile. “How many pilots have you ever heard of making it through something like this?”

“Still, you've got to try,” Kyle said with a slight shrug. “No rush, you know? You take your time out there.” 

“Yeah, all right,” Ethan conceded, deciding there was no harm in humoring the other man. “You take care, Kyle. Try to hang on though, yeah? Whatever this is...however you're doing it...maybe there's a chance you'll get to see him again, somehow.” 

The brunette half-smiled as if to say he hoped so and that he'd try, but he verbalized nothing of the sort. His final words to Ethan were simple and to the point. 

“See you on the flip side, man.”

Kyle then placed his hands on Ethan's chest and pushed the older man roughly. Ethan felt himself falling backwards and reaching his arms out towards Kyle on instinct. The brunette's visage quickly disappeared, however, swallowed by darkness.

When Ethan came to in the real world, he barely had a chance to take in all of the chaos that suddenly seemed to erupt around him. The sound of Tango Tasmania's remaining functional warning sirens filled his ears and the last thing Ethan saw before blacking out was a pile of debris falling from above, barreling towards him. He didn't even get the chance to let out a scream.


	8. Sorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm feeling pretty pumped. :) I have had several anonymous lurkers reveal themselves and other logged-in kudoers leave me comments that made me smile. One of my favorite commenters has also dedicated a story to me too! (Check out "[Nothing Here is Cruel or Kind"](http://bit.ly/1htsZXz) by SublimeDiscordance. Fantastic writer, strong start, and VERY engaging story even though only the prologue is up! I can't wait to see where it goes!) 
> 
> Anyway...I had written a ton more things in my author's notes...but AO3 ate it AND I DON'T REMEMBER ANYMORE!! TEARS!!!!!!!!!! Let's see if this does any better. 
> 
> OH YEAH. One thing I DO remember from the old notes, is that I received an awesome comment where one of my readers not only revealed themselves, they also offered to translate my works into Vietnamese! Woo hoo! So excited. As soon as I'm provided links, I shall post them in my stories!! 
> 
> I'm sure there was more...meh, I shall add them in later if/when I remember. LOL. In the meantime, onward we go!! XD

“Jeremy. You're going to burn a hole through our carpet, honey.”

“I know, Ma...sorry. I can't help it.”

Lisa Daniels sighed as she watched her son pace nervously about their living room. He'd been like that ever since he got up that morning and heard a news anchor mention the codename given to the most recent Kaiju to emerge from the breach and Kyle Hunter's name in the same sentence as he was passing through the living room to grab some breakfast in the kitchen. Both she and her husband had noticed Jeremy trying his best to pretend he wasn't listening, but from the way his hands shook as he poured milk in a glass and from the look of deep concentration from his face, they both knew where his mind was going to be for the rest of the day. Charlie, of course, had told their son to stay home.

Initially, Jeremy had refused with a frown. _“_ _It's a Tuesday, Dad.”_

“ _So?”_ had been the older man's nonchalant reply. _“_ _What we do takes focus, son. Our line of work can get dangerous if a person's distracted.”_

“ _I'll be fine, Dad,”_ Jeremy had said stubbornly.

Charlie had clapped a hand on his son's shoulder and shook him gently. _“It's fine, son. You work hard. What's one day of rest?”_

Jeremy had let out a sigh and lowered his eyes in shame, shoulders slumping slightly as he mumbled. _“I had the whole weekend for that...and we're in the middle of a project right now.”_

“ _One that's supposed to last for at least another few days,”_ his father had responded kindly. _“You can make it up with your efforts tomorrow.”_

Jeremy had shifted the weight on his feet, embarrassed. Charlie had chuckled and ruffled his son's hair before taking a slightly folded cap from out of his jacket pocket and placing it on his head.

“ _Think of it as one of the perks of being the head honcho's son,”_ Charlie had said with a wink. _“It's all right to take advantage every once in a while.”_

Jeremy had scrunched his nose at that. _“Aw, Dad...I don't want to be that kind of—”_

“ _I know, son,”_ Charlie had said with a small smile and a nod. _“Don't worry about that. The boys all know you pull your fair share of the weight. You just promise to give it your all tomorrow and that'll more than make up for your absence today.”_

“ _...all right, Dad...”_ Jeremy had said then, rubbing at the back of his neck as he finally conceded. _“Thanks...”_

“ _Don't mention it,”_ Charlie had said before brushing past his son to give his wife their usual morning parting kiss.

It was true that Jeremy would have been incredibly distracted at work, his mind filled with Kyle; however, it was difficult to say whether his staying home that day really was the better alternative. The minute the news channel started showing a live feed of the Yamarashi fight, Jeremy hadn't been able to stop his nervous pacing. Finally, when Jeremy got just close enough, his mother reached out her hand and forced him down beside her on their long couch.

“ _Sit_ , Jeremy...” Lisa said, her tone gentle but firm. “You're doing no one any favors walking about like that.”

“Yeah...all right, sorry, Mom...” Jeremy mumbled.

His fingers began to fidget and one of his legs started bouncing. He was trying his best to stay calm, Lisa knew. She placed a hand over one of her son's and squeezed it in an attempt to be reassuring. She felt him tense and Jeremy squeezed her hand back gently. His eyes, however, remained focused on the screen.

“ _Fuck_ , I hate the television...” Jeremy muttered under his breath after a few moments.

“ _Language_ , Jeremy...” his mother reprimanded him softly, running a thumb lightly over the back of her son's hand.

Jeremy let out a sigh and ran a hand through his black hair. “Yeah, yeah, I know...I'm sorry...”

“Just hope for the best,” his mother whispered. “For Kyle. That's all you can do right now.”

“I _know_...” Jeremy said as he let out another sigh. “Damn it...I should have just gone to work. This is killing me.”

“You could still go if you wanted to,” said Lisa. “If you think it would make things better.”

“...no,” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “I'm not sure if it'll make any difference right now. What's done is done.”

Lisa looked at her son curiously when he said those words, but she didn't ask what he meant by them. Getting the sense that her son was done talking for the moment, she turned her attention to the screen and watched alongside her son in tense silence.

Though he'd never admit it out loud, Jeremy was a tad superstitious. He was a man of routine as much as he was one of moral integrity, and his nerves were even more rattled due to the fact that he hadn't gone to work that morning. Jeremy didn't want to think negatively, but part of him believed that his decision not to go to work that day had just set off a chain of events that there was no way of reversing.

The minute the news footage showed the skirmish against the gigantic Kaiju beginning to go south, Jeremy jumped up abruptly from his seat. His mother did her best not to show that she had been startled by her son's sudden movement.

“Sorry, Ma...” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “I think...I think I'm going to go out and get some air, if that's all right with you.”

Lisa looked up at her son worriedly and nodded. “Sure...sure. You go on ahead. Take all the time you need. I'll call for you if anything changes.”

Jeremy nodded in gratitude. “Thanks, Mom...”

“There's a carton and a lighter in one of the top drawers in the kitchen,” Lisa said, as if reading her son's mind. “Where we keep all our miscellaneous items.”

“Thanks,” Jeremy said, crossing the living room and heading towards the kitchen. “Saves me a trip up the stairs.”

His mother nodded. “I thought as much. Don't forget to take a jacket off the coat rack.”

“I will, Mom,” said Jeremy.

In several minutes, he had gathered what he needed, threw on a jacket, and was out the front door. Shakily, he placed a cigarette in his mouth and cupped his hands while attempting to light it.

“Goddammit...!” he whispered harshly to himself when he couldn't seem to produce a spark. “What the fuck...!”

Just as he got the lighter to produce a flame, he heard his mother shriek from inside the house. Immediately, he abandoned the box of cigarettes and the lighter; they scattered all over the ground. The cigarette he had been holding in his mouth fell from his lips and onto the ground as he threw open the front door and rushed inside to the living room, where his mother was.

Lisa was standing up straight, her eyes wide with terror and her hands clasped over her mouth. Jeremy stumbled into the living room and rushed up beside her.

“What?” Jeremy said breathlessly, his breathing ragged as if he had just run a marathon. “What? What is it, Mom?”

His mother burst into tears. She turned and flung her arms around Jeremy. She buried her face into her son's chest and began sobbing there.

“Oh, God, Jeremy...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry, honey...” she kept muttering over and over, gripping the back of her son's jacket tightly.

“What? What is it...? What's going on?” Jeremy asked numbly, patting his mother on the back.

Lisa didn't respond and Jeremy's eyes trailed towards the television. There was news footage showing a live camera feed of some huge wreckage of twisted metal. Jeremy felt his heart sink and the blood in his veins run cold as ice. Jeremy gulped when he felt his throat tighten up. A small frown creased his forehead and his tongue flicked out to wet his lips. He tilted his head slightly to one side.

“Mom...?” Jeremy said, his voice cracking slightly. “What...? What happened...?”

His mother was sobbing uncontrollably, unable to respond. He felt the shake of her head against his chest. Suddenly, Jeremy felt tears spring to his eyes, stinging them.

“ _What the...what the fuck am I looking at...?”_ Jeremy thought to himself, even though something told him that he already knew the answer.

The minute the news channel began airing a replay of the last few minutes of the Yamarashi fight, all of a sudden Jeremy's hearing went numb, along with the rest of his body; he winced slightly when his ears became filled with a painful ringing sound. He could barely hear what his mother was saying to herself hysterically.

“ _Oh, God...! I have to call Frank and Evelyn...! Oh my God...I don't know if they were even watching this footage...! They must be absolutely heartbroken, I can't even imagine! Oh my God...oh my God...!”_

Jeremy barely heard himself tell his mother that he didn't think the Hunters had a television. Kyle's grandparents were old school—they preferred reading the news in the paper or listening to the radio. There was a chance they could have heard a broadcast over the airwaves, of course, but it was still early in the day. There was a chance that Kyle's grandparents were in the middle of running some errands or possibly even still sleeping.

Jeremy was explaining all this to his mother as calmly as he could, but then he froze, his posture becoming rigid the second he saw footage of Yamarashi's sharp armor suddenly rip through the Jaeger standing before it, tearing it to shreds. Jeremy didn't feel his jaw drop. His hands stopped patting his mother's backside. Jeremy wasn't a huge follower of all the Jaeger team fights that were broadcast on television, but he did always pay attention to one. He could have picked this Jaeger out from among a horde of Jaegers; it was the only one he ever bothered learning the name of.

Tango Tasmania. Kyle's Jaeger. Now nothing more than a useless pile of scrap metal. Jeremy's eyes widened in terror.

It took him several minutes to realize that he was the source of the brutish screaming that filled his ears. It took him even longer to realize that the roles had reversed—now his mom was the one patting him gently on the back, hugging him tightly in hopes of comforting him. Jeremy's hands were in his hair, tightly gripping fistfuls of it as his whole body racked with sobs.

“ _Oh my God_...!” Jeremy shouted, echoing his mother's words of horror from earlier. “Oh my God...! Holy _shit_ , Mom...! That's _Kyle's Jaeger_...! That _fucking Jaeger_ was _Kyle's_...! Oh my God...!”

“I know, honey, I know...” he heard his mother say tearfully, though her voice sounded distant in his ears. “I'm so sorry, Jeremy...I'm so sorry...”

Lisa dropped down to the floor with her son when Jeremy collapsed onto his knees. For the first time since either of them could remember, both were uncontrollably crying. Lisa didn't bother to scold her son as he continued to mutter curses under his breath—for once, she felt oddly comforted by the expletives, finding them rather appropriate in that very moment.

“ _Holy shit...what the fuck...son of a bitch...!”_

They went to visit Kyle's parents several hours later; after things had calmed down and after Jeremy's father had come back home from work. When they arrived, they found out that his grandparents had been busy all day that day and hadn't yet heard the news. Evelyn Hunter collapsed to the ground when Jeremy's father told them, falling immediately into hysterics. Her husband, Franklin, bent down to help her when their telephone rang. Jeremy and his parents stayed with Kyle's grandmother, consoling her, as Kyle's grandfather went to answer the phone. When he returned, his face was withdrawn and pale. Jeremy quickly rose to his feet and reached out his arms, catching the older man before he crumpled to the ground.

Kyle's grandfather gripped Jeremy's arms tightly, his eyes vacant and seemingly staring off at something far away. Jeremy listened to the man as he whispered some words softly into one of his ears.

“I just received a call...” Frank said, his brows creasing together. “They said they're from the government...”

Unable to say anything, Jeremy just tightly nodded to acknowledge that he was listening. Kyle's grandfather shook his head in disbelief.

“They said...they said Kyle was fighting, and then he...?” the older man trailed off and looked Jeremy in the eyes as his own began to fill with tears. “He...?”

Releasing his hold on one of Jeremy's arms, Frank lifted a trembling hand to his mouth. He shook his head some more.

“Lord Almighty...” Kyle's grandfather said softly after letting out a choked gasp. “My poor boy...! My poor, poor boy...!”

He said it so mournfully that Jeremy found it becoming increasingly difficult to remain strong. He finally closed his eyes and let the tears fall silently when Kyle's grandfather slowly bowed his head towards the ground.

“Killed in the line of duty, they said...” Frank Hunter whispered, shaking his head. “Earlier this morning...I'll never believe it...! They're bringing him home...they're bringing him home in a casket...!”

The five of them remained on Kyle's grandparent's front porch for a while, all trying to console one another and sobbing. Memories of Kyle at all different points of his life flooded each of their minds, overwhelming them even more with unbearable emotion. And though Jeremy would never say it out loud, his heart was incredibly broken—mercilessly ripped out from his chest, stomped on, and shattered into a million pieces.

Hours later, Jeremy received a call from Yancy, confirming what he already knew. It was barely a consolation to hear the despair in the blonde's voice; to hear the other man sound so equally affected. Jeremy had been lying down on his bed, staring angrily up at the ceiling when Yancy called.

“ _Jerry...”_

“I _know_ , Yancy...” Jeremy said as he shook his head. “Damn it, man...! I saw it happen on the news...”

There was a crackling noise in his ear as he heard Yancy blow out a sigh. _“_ _Look...I'm just calling to let you know that...that his body is currently being readied for transport...”_

Jeremy hissed and closed his eyes. “Yeah...okay, man...I got it. Thanks...”

“ _We'll be there in the morning with him...”_

“I said _okay_...!” Jeremy snapped angrily, clenching his free fist. “I _got it_...! _Fuck_ , Yancy...! Just leave me the hell alone, okay?”

“ _Okay...all right, man...easy now, easy...”_ Yancy responded softly. _“I just thought that maybe...”_

Jeremy let out a sigh. “Look, man...I appreciate the call and everything...and I'm sure you and Raleigh are hurting just as badly too, but... _God_...”

He turned his head to the side and brought his fist up to his forehead, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. Jeremy slowly curled his knees towards his chest, his body shaking as he tried to hold back his sobs.

“You didn't know him like I did, man...” Jeremy whispered into the phone, his teeth clacking together slightly. “Nobody did...”

“ _I know, and I'm not arguing with you, Jerry,”_ Yancy said with such genuine sympathy that had it been any other moment, Jeremy might have been taken aback with surprise. _“I'm real sorry, man...Raleigh and I both are...neither of us can imagine—”_

“Then _don't_...!” Jeremy said tartly, uncaring in that moment how harshly he came across.

The conversation lapsed into a brief silence. Neither man made a move to end the call. For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was breathing. After a while, Jeremy could hear the sound of Raleigh's voice coming through faintly from somewhere probably close by Yancy.

“ _How's he doing, Yance...? He sound all right...?”_

There was a sound of rustling, and Yancy's voice came through the phone muffled; Jeremy assumed that the blonde had placed his hand over the speaker.

“ _I don't know, Rals. Be patient,”_ he head Yancy say. _“Right now he isn't saying anything. I think...I think he might be, you know...crying.”_

Jeremy heard Raleigh make a disapproving noise with his tongue. _“Damn it...shit..._ _I wish there was something we could do for him...”_

“ _Yeah, I know...me too, kiddo,”_ Yancy said somberly. _“Hey, hang on, just a second, Rals...”_

Jeremy could almost imagine the younger man nodding. _“Yeah, okay, Yance...”_

There was more sounds of rustling as Yancy adjusted his hold on the phone again when he heard Jeremy intentionally clear his throat. The blonde's voice came through a few seconds later.

“ _Sorry, I was talking to Raleigh,”_ Yancy said to him apologetically. _“You doing all right there, man...?”_

Jeremy almost didn't respond. He let out another sigh.

“I should have been there with him, man...” Jeremy whispered softly. “I should've gone and joined the PPDC with y'all way back when he first asked me...”

“ _Hey, hey...”_ Yancy said, and Jeremy could almost see the other man frowning. _“Don't get all caught up with thinking like that, all right...? There's no sense in regretting all of that now...and really, even if you were the one piloting the damn thing with him, there's really nothing you could have done...”_

“Well we'll never know that for sure now, will we...?” Jeremy said bitterly while shaking his head, heart filling with self-loathing. “I should've been there by his side, protecting him...at the very least, I should have died right there with him.”

Yancy sighed. _“Jerry...”_

“God, Yancy...! You don't know, man...you don't know Kyle in the way I did...” Jeremy said weakly, his voice trembling. “ _Fuck_...! He must have been so scared...so fucking scared...and honestly, I would have been too. I saw that fucking ugly thing y'all were up against...”

If Yancy could tell that his friend was crying openly then, he had the decency to pretend not to notice anything. He let Jeremy release his emotions without casting judgment, and finally spoke up again when it sounded like the dark-haired man had finally calmed down.

“ _Listen, man...”_ he started. _“Raleigh and I will be...”_

“Yeah, I know...” Jeremy said, cutting his friend off more gently than he had previously. “I get it...y'all got to sleep all of this off, too...”

“ _Hey, that's not what—”_

Jeremy shook his head, even though he knew the other man couldn't see. “Nah...it's all right, man...we're cool. Sorry, I snapped at you earlier.”

“ _It's fine.”_

Jeremy sighed. “Well...guess I'll be seeing the two of you in the morning...?”

“ _...yeah, man,”_ said Yancy. _“We'll see you in a few hours.”_

“All right,” Jeremy said as he slowly started to pull the phone away from his ear. “I'm going to hang up first. Tell your brother 'hey' for me.”

“ _Sure, man.”_

Jeremy ended the call. Drained of all his energy, Jeremy just slipped his phone underneath his pillow and rolled over onto his side, dragging part of his blanket over his body from underneath where he lay.

That evening marked the first of what would be a newly formed habit of Jeremy waking up in a cold sweat from horrific nightmares; his parents running into his room to console him and Jeremy apologizing to them profusely, swearing that he'd try harder at containing his screams next time. His parents were never angry, just merely sympathetic and understanding; helpless to do anything else for their son.

Jeremy's dreams always began with the first time he and Kyle ever met as kids and always ended with the horrific scene of Kyle's untimely death, playing repeatedly on the television screen in his family's living room. Every time, Jeremy bolted awake from his nightmares, head buried in his hands as he murmured his apologies to Kyle incessantly.

“ _I should have been there with you, Kyle...I should have gone with you...I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you, man...I am so, so sorry...”_

Ethan Bentley's funeral was held the same day as his co-pilot's. Despite his father's wishes, Ethan's mother had reached out to his best friend, Nathaniel Crawford, and asked him to place a call on her behalf, relaying the message of the terrible news to her younger son. Jason and his wife, Melanie, arrived at the Bentley household a few hours before the funeral proceedings.

While Edward Bentley wanted nothing to do with his estranged son, his wife Jacqueline, on the other hand, was a bit more welcoming, greeting Jason and Melanie with warm hugs. Though the elder Bentley did not disallow his wife to shower the young couple with such affection, it was quite clear to everyone that he was most displeased. After Melanie excused herself and turned to follow Ethan's best friend Nathaniel, Mrs. Bentley took Jason quietly by the arm and led her son up a flight of stairs to his older brother's room.

Jason took a deep breath before stepping inside after his mother had slowly pushed open the door. His mother did not follow him; she simply stood there in the door way, one hand clasped around the elbow of the other arm, her face partly covered by her other hand.

“Perhaps I should have showed you to your room first...” Jacqueline whispered softly.

Jason shook his his head. “No, it's all right, Mom...”

He gave his mother a reassuring smile over his shoulder when he heard her sniffling. Jacqueline wiped a tear away from her eye with a finger.

“I left your rooms just the way you both left them,” she said. “Despite what your father said, I just thought...I just thought that one day you'd make up with your father, Ethan would finish his service, and that one day you'd both...”

When she trailed off, Jason turned back around and held his mother, who crumpled in his arms. He pat her on the back soothingly.

“Hey...hey...it's okay, Mom...” Jason said quietly. “I understand...”

He had never seen either of his parents so emotionally shaken before. After a few minutes, his mother gently pried away from him. Jason tilted his head to the side, regarding his mother with concern.

“Mom...?”

His mother shook her head and waved her hand at him. “Don't mind me, darling...I'm going to look for your father...will you be all right here?”

Jason dropped his arms to his side and nodded. “Yeah, Mom...I'll be fine.”

“Your brother's funeral is in...” his mother shook her head mournfully, unable to finish her sentence.

Jason half-smiled. “I know when it is, Mom, don't worry. I promise I won't be late.”

His heart clenched upon seeing his mother's sad smile. “ _Thank you_ , Jason...”

He let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding shortly after his mother departed down the hall. Jason stared at the empty doorway unblinkingly for several seconds before slowly reaching out a hand and quietly shutting the door to his brother's room so that he could have a few private moments inside.

Jason found himself almost afraid to reach out and disturb anything in the room; with is brother gone now, the place almost gave off an air of antiquity. Jason felt as if he were in some kind of exhibit; a piece of history recreated and meant to be left forever untouched and quietly observed.

Feeling as if even rumpling his brother's sheets from sitting or lying down on the bed would be disrespectful to his deceased brother's spirit, Jason eventually settled for sprawling out on his backside on his brother's floor, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't know for how long he lay there, or when he had managed to doze off. In his dreams, Jason recalled a memory from his childhood that he hadn't thought about in a long time.

_He was twelve years old, in middle school, attending the eighth grade. Ethan, who was two years older than him, was a sophomore in high school. They had their differences sometimes—though Jason had to admit, he had been the one to start most of their arguments—but their heated, verbal smack downs wouldn't be increasing with alarming frequency for another three years from that point._

_His brother Ethan was already home from school by the time Jason had gotten home from his, and Jason found him in his room, whittling away at something at his desk. A wood carving. Ethan had always been doing that, for as long as Jason could remember. He had never asked why, but he figured that carving wood pieces had always been some form of stress-relieving habit for his older brother._

_Jason remembered walking into his brother's room and peeking over Ethan's shoulder to see what his brother was working on that day. He made sure to make a little noise as he did so, so that he wouldn't startle his brother. He could tell that Ethan sensed his presence, because the older boy's lips curled into a small half-smile._

“ _How was school today, Jayce?” his brother had asked._

“ _Fine,” said Jason. “What're you making there, Eden?”_

_Ethan chuckled at the nickname. When Jason was younger, he had a bit of difficulty pronouncing his older brother's name, and it came out 'Eden.' Whether Jason realized it or not, Ethan knew that his brother only called him that when their relationship was good. Ethan's posture relaxed, ever so slightly. There would be no bad blood between them today._

“ _Eh, nothing special,” Ethan said with a small smile and a slight shrug. “Just got a little bored—thought I'd make you a piccolo.”_

_Jason had snorted at that. “Oh yeah? And what am I going to do with that? You know I'm not really all that into playing instruments. If you were going to make me something, you should've just carved me a boat.”_

_He didn't notice the subtle pause in the movement of his brother's hands. The hesitation was most brief, and soon Ethan's hands were working again, chipping away at the wood._   
  
_“Hm...is that so?” Ethan said._

“ _Yeah,” Jason said, nodding._

_Just then, there was a knock at the door. The two brothers exchanged a fleeting glance. Ethan had nodded and then Jason had turned his head._

“ _Yes? Come in.”_

_One of the family's maids entered the room and informed the boys that dinner was being served. Ethan murmured the appropriate words of appreciation and then sent her on her way._

“ _You go on ahead first,” Ethan had said to Jason shortly after the maid had left. “Tell Mom and Dad that I'll catch up with them in a minute.”_

“ _Yeah, okay, **whatever** ,” Jason had said, scrunching his nose. “I know what that means. You're not coming and Mom's just going to have someone bring food up to your room later.”_

_Ethan laughed. “Hey, that's not what **always** happens.”_

_Jason snorted. “Yeah, sure. I'll believe it when I see it. It really isn't fair, you know, how much Mom and Dad always let you get away with things...”_

_His older brother surprised him by reaching back one of his hands and mussing up a bit of Jason's hair. The younger boy swatted the hand away and scowled._

“ _Hey! What'd you do that for?”_

_Ethan smiled. “Maybe if you stopped giving Mom and Dad so much trouble, they'd be more lenient on you.”_

_Jason scoffed. “Yeah, that's easy for you to say. They think you're the golden child you know, Eden. In their eyes? You can do no wrong.”_

_He raised an eyebrow when Ethan rose from his seat and walked over to his closet to put on a jacket. The older boy half-smiled._

“ _Oh, I wouldn't say **that** , Jayce...” Ethan said, chuckling. “I do plenty wrong. You're just never home at the right times to see them scold me.”_

“ _Well, whatever,” Jason grumbled. “Where are you going, anyway?”_

“ _Where does it look like?” Ethan said with a cheeky grin. “Out back. I need to get a few more pieces of wood.”_

_Jason frowned. “ **Seriously** , Ethan? Can't you do all that **after** we go down and eat dinner with Mom and Dad? Wouldn't that make more sense?”_

_His brother's eyes had twinkled in response to his question, and at the time Jason hadn't quite understood why that had been. Ethan had laughed while pulling up the zipper of his jacket._

“ _Just tell them I might not make it to dinner,” Ethan said._

“ _Fine, I will!” Jason said, annoyed. “You can be so irritating sometimes, Ethan.”_

_His brother laughed some more and ruffled his hair again before leaving. “I know. Don't feel like you have to cover for me, all right? I'll deal with Mom and Dad later.”_

“ _Whatever. I hope you get an earful,” Jason said as he ran his hands through his hair, making a show of trying to fix the way it parted. “And stop messing with my hair!”_

_Ethan's continuing laughter had been his only response as he opened the window to his balcony and climbed down the ladder that was there. Ethan's best friend, Nathaniel, had brought it once and installed it, leaving it there so that he could climb up to Ethan's whenever he felt like it._

“ _Stupid jerk...” Jason had muttered before going to meet his parents for dinner._

_Later that evening, Jason opened the door to his room after a nice evening with his parents. After he had told his parents that Ethan had skipped dinner to go play, their father had been downright furious and Jason couldn't help but to feel most pleased. Sure, their mother was making plans behind their father's back to have some food stealthily slipped into his brother's room, but that didn't matter. His brother's absence and poorly made decision had allowed for Jason to be the center of attention and doted on by their parents that evening._

_Jason had smirked triumphantly at Ethan's door just before turning in for the night. The smugness in his expression faded shortly after he had entered his room._

_There, at the center of his desk, was a wooden yacht carved with intricate detail. Jason didn't have to guess who might have left it there._

_Carefully, Jason lifted the wood carving up from his desk and admired its intricate details. He was sure it must have taken his brother hours._

_Jason turned around and stared at his shut door, model boat still cradled in his hands. He took a step towards his door, but didn't move any further than that. Finally, he had let out a sigh and slumped his shoulders slightly forward. He looked down at the boat and let his thumbs glide over the wood._

“ _Thanks, Eden...” Jason murmured quietly._

The knocking didn't wake him, but the shaking of his shoulders did. Someone was calling his name, too.

“ _Jason.”_

“Nngh...” Jason groaned and reached up one of his hands to rub at his stiff neck.

He blinked several times and looked up at the person above him. His eyes widened.

“Ethan...?”

Instead of the familiar smile and the light chuckle he was expecting, his brother's face frowned. “What? No. Jason, wake up, mate.”

“Huh...?” Jason rubbed at his eyes and blinked them several times.

His vision cleared, and then Jason realized who it was that was standing above him. A pair of cerulean-blue eyes regarded him with concern.

“Ah...” Jason said awkwardly, realizing who it was. “Nathaniel.”

“Sorry to wake you...” Nathaniel said with a half-smile. “Your mother said you'd be in here.”

“Yeah...” Jason said, slowly getting up to a sitting position. “I, uh...I guess I fell asleep.”

Nathaniel chuckled. “That's what it looked like.”

Jason let out a sigh. Nathaniel frowned.

“You all right?”

Jason sighed again and brought his legs up towards his chest, wrapping his arms around them and resting his chin atop his knees. He closed his eyes, his hands gripping his arms tightly.

“I had a dream...” he whispered softly. “About Ethan.”

He heard Nathaniel drop to the ground, sitting close by him. “Yeah? Want to talk about it?”

Jason brought his head down, resting his forehead against his arms. He shrugged his shoulders.

“I don't know,” he said quietly. “It was more of a memory, really...”

“From a long time ago?” Nathaniel asked.

“Yeah,” said Jason. “I...it's weird. I just remembered this one time, and...”

He raised his head then. Nathaniel was looking at him with worried eyes. Much to Jason's chagrin, he felt tears escape his eyes and slide down his cheeks. He wiped at some of them with the back of one hand.

“What about it?” Nathaniel asked gently.

Jason's lips trembled as he attempted to smile. “I think I finally understand him now...”

Nathaniel chuckled softly. “Yeah?”

Jason nodded. “Except it's too late, you know...? Funny how that works... _shit_...”

He buried his head in his hands and began to sob. He felt Nathaniel pat him on the back gently. It had been years since Jason had felt like a child, but he did so very much in that moment. Nathaniel sat beside him in silence. Jason's voice shook as he continued to speak.

“I don't know why I didn't see it before,” Jason said, shaking his head. “I guess I was just stupid. Just so God. Damn. _Stupid_.”

Nathaniel didn't ask Jason for what he meant. He simply continued to pat the younger man's back soothingly and listened as Jason continued his little rant.

“I remember I used to get so fucking mad sometimes, because it seemed like he would always get away with everything,” said Jason. “My dream was about that, you know...I was remembering one of those times, for some reason...”

Jason brought his moist palms away from his eyes and wiped them against the sides of his shirt. He glared straight ahead while wiping at his eyes some more with one of his wrists.

“I get it now, though. He did something for me back then and now I...I get it,” Jason said bitterly, shaking his head before looking at Nathaniel. “And now he's gone, and I hate him for it. Does that make me a bad person?”

The older man simply half-smiled. “Nah, I don't think so. I'm sure your brother wouldn't say so either.”

Jason sighed. “Yeah, well, Ethan always was...”

He didn't flinch or protest when Nathaniel reached out and ruffled his hair. If anything, the action broke his heart. He closed his eyes, wishing hard for what he knew could never be again.

“He loved you, Jason,” said Nathaniel. “He never stopped talking about you...never stopped wondering how you were doing.”

“I know...” Jason whispered. “Goddammit...! I _know_...”

A few minutes later, Jason's wife, Melanie, entered the room. Nathaniel was the first to notice. He cast a glance over his shoulder and smiled at her sheepishly.

“Sorry. Guess we got caught up talking and failed in my mission to bring him downstairs,” Nathaniel said. “They looking for us?”

Melanie nodded somberly. “It's time. The service will be starting soon.”

“All right,” Nathaniel said before patting Jason firmly on the back. “Come on, Jason. Let's get you up.”

Nathaniel rose to his feet and offered Jason his hand. The younger man took it, and Nathaniel pulled him up easily. The the two men and Melanie then made there way outside of the Bentley home, where a limousine was waiting to take them to a nearby church for the funeral proceedings. They were there within minutes. Jason took his place between his mother, who separated him from his father, and Nathaniel. His wife, Melanie, went to go sit with her own family, whom she hadn't seen in a while.

Words were spoken, but Jason heard none of them. His eyes were fixated on the enlarged picture of his smiling brother, from just before entering into service with the PPDC. Only one thought looped through his mind the entire time.

“ _Eden, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Eden. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...”_

Before he knew it, he was outside, watching his brother get buried forever, six feet under. He barely felt the comforting squeeze of his wife's hand. He could hear his mother crying. He could sense his father doing the same, inside. They all stood there a long time.

To the very end, his father refused to acknowledge him, but Jason didn't mind; he found that he couldn't blame the man. His mother, of course, gave him parting words of love and made him promise to come visit again soon, that his father would come around eventually. This time, when Jason gave his mother his word, he meant it.

Nathaniel was the last person Jason interacted with before leaving from his house. Melanie took the keys from him and went ahead to their car after letting him know that she'd wait for him. Once Jason turned and gave the older man his full attention did he realize that Nathaniel had brought with him a dolly with several boxes stacked on top. Jason looked at the boxes and then regarded Nathaniel with a raised eyebrow.

“What's all this?” Jason asked.

“Letters,” Nathaniel said simply. “Your brother always wanted to send them to you, but he never did. I received them from the PPDC today. Ethan had listed me as the designated person to handle his personal effects should he ever...”

Jason swallowed down the lump in his throat and nodded in gratitude when the older man trailed off. “I'm sorry...I realize you must be hurting more than I am...I know you two have always been real close.”

For the first time that day, Nathaniel's blue eyes betrayed him, revealing his inner sorrow. He shook his head and gave the younger Bentley a bittersweet smile.

“It's all right, mate,” he said. “We're all hurting for different reasons and in our own ways.”

Jason took the handle of the dolly from Nathaniel. “Thank you...Nathaniel. Just...for everything. Keep an eye on my folks for me?”

Nathaniel chuckled softly. “What do you think I've been doing for your brother all these years, eh?”

Jason nodded. “I'll...I'll try to come back more often.”

“Your mom would like that.”

“I know.”

“Ethan would be happy too,” said Nathaniel. “He was always hoping one day you'd 'come back to your senses and just come on home.' At least, that's how he put it.”

Jason laughed quietly. “He said that, huh...? Yeah, I believe you...”

“You're father's not all that bad you know,” said Nathaniel. “He's just stubborn.”

Jason sighed. “I...I think I know...I've hurt him a lot though.”

“Probably because you're both so much alike,” Nathaniel said, raising his hands. “Again, Ethan's words, not mine. I actually can't say I know too much about it.”

“No, he's right,” Jason said with a nod. “Ethan was definitely a lot more like Mom...although I guess he still picked up the whole roundabout way of showing things from Dad...”

The two men laughed and then stood in silence for a little while. Finally, Jason let out another small sigh and looked up at Nathaniel.

“You going to be all right, man?” he asked.

Nathaniel nodded. “It's going to be strange, and it'll take a lot of time, but...”

Jason half-smiled. “Ethan wouldn't want you crying over him forever.”

Nathaniel gave him a small smile back. “So you know.”

“I do,” said Jason. “...you take care of yourself, Nathaniel.”

The older man nodded. “See you around. Drive safe.”

“Thanks. You as well.”

The ride back home to their house was silent. Melanie was driving, and Jason was quiet in the passengers seat, sifting through some of the letters from one of the boxes he had placed at his feet. From what he could tell, Ethan had written one letter to him a day for the past nine years, ever since he and Jason had both left home—one to the PPDC and the other out of rebelliousness.

That evening, his wife handed him another letter that wasn't from any of the boxes. Jason had been sitting at their kitchen table reading a few from what he had. Melanie smiled when Jason looked up at her curiously.

“It must have come while we were out,” she said softly. “With the afternoon mail drop. It's from your brother.”

With shaky hands, Jason silently accepted the letter. His wife pat him gently on the shoulder.

“I'll leave you to it, okay?” Melanie said. “I think I'm going to go and lie down...”

Jason nodded numbly. His wife left the room, and he tore open the letter. After skimming its contents, Jason slowly lowered his hands and set the paper down on the table. He then pushed back his chair and made his way into the bedroom.

The mattress dipped slightly when Jason climbed into bed next to his wife. Melanie lifted her arm slightly so that her husband could slip his arm underneath. She leaned back and smiled a little, her eyes closed, when she felt Jason press his face gently against the crook of her neck. Jason pressed a light kiss against her skin.

“Ethan wrote that you've been seeing Nathaniel.”

Melanie entwined her fingers with Jason's and chuckled. “Nathaniel's _gay_ , Jason.”

She could imagine her husband crinkling his nose. “I know _that_ , Melanie, I'm not worried about you being unfaithful or anything.”

Melanie laughed quietly. “So then what, then?”

“He said...that Nathaniel told him something.”

Melanie opened her eyes. The smile on her lips slightly faded. She turned around to face her husband. They adjusted their bodies into more comfortable positions. Jason reached out a hand and brushed a few strands of hair away from his wife's face.

He half-smiled. “When were you going to tell me, Mels...? _Were_ you going to tell me...?”

“What? _Of course_ , I wanted to tell you...!” Melanie said with a soft gasp. “It's just...what with everything that's happened...”

Jason frowned. “You knew before though...”

Melanie shook her head. “Only after about a month. I told Nathaniel about a week ago. I just had to be sure...I wanted Ethan to know.”

Jason chuckled softly. “So Ethan got to know that he was going to be an uncle before I found out I was going to be having my first child with you...? Real nice, Mels.”

His wife reached out to cup part of his face and laughed. “I was going to tell you, Jason. Honest.”

Jason placed his hand over Melanie's and gave her a small smile. “Yeah...I know...”

A brief silence settled between the couple. After a few minutes, Jason brought his wife's hand to his lips. He pressed a kiss there.

“So...?” Jason asked as he lowered her hand from his face. “Do we know if it's a boy or a girl yet?”

“No,” Melanie said, shaking her head. “Not yet.”

“Ah...” Jason said, nodding. “I see.”

“We'll find out soon enough,” said Melanie. “If it's a boy though...”

Jason let out a sigh and closed his eyes, turning his head slightly towards his pillow. He kept a gently hold of Melanie's hand.

“Let's talk about that when we get there...all right, Mels...?” he said.

A tiny smile formed on Melanie's lips and she drew herself closer to her husband, pressing their foreheads together. She closed her eyes and reached out to her husband with her other arm so she could place both her hands around her husband's curled fist.

“Let's name him after your brother...” she whispered.

Jason didn't answer her; his body trembling silently was his only response. Melanie didn't have to open her eyes to know that her husband was crying. She ran her thumbs over her husband's hand gently.

“Shhh...it's all right, honey...I'm right here with you,” Melanie whispered. “I love you, Jason...I love you so much. I love you...”

That evening was rough for those affected all around, but for some people, the night was worse than it was for others. Sometime in the middle of the night in Anchorage, Charlie and Lisa Daniels bolted awake to the sound of their son's guttural screams. Both parents were out of their bed in a flash, and together they burst into their son's room.

Jeremy's black hair was rumpled and a mess. He was breathing harshly, and he was drenched in sweat. When his mother threw her arms around him, he let out a sob and buried his face into her chest.

“Oh, honey...” his mother whispered as she lovingly stroked his hair. “Jeremy...it's all right...it was just a nightmare...”

Try as he might, Jeremy couldn't stop crying. His father ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh before taking a seat on his son's bed.

“You sure gave us a scare there, son...” Charlie said in a low voice. “Everything will be all right, you know...it's just going to take some time...”

Jeremy eventually settled down, but the three of them were unable to get much more sleep that night. At Lisa's suggestion, the three of them moved from Jeremy's room to the living room, and they each settled on a couch. Lisa went in the kitchen and to make them all some snacks, and Jeremy and his father silently sat in their seats, just watching the television.

His parents, unsurprisingly, fell asleep first. Jeremy watched what was playing on the screen for a couple more hours before a special news feed cut off the movie he was watching. As soon as the reporter started talking about the funerals for Kyle and his co-pilot, Jeremy quickly flicked off the television and rushed to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him before lurching into the toilet bowl.

A light sleeper that evening, Lisa woke to the sound of her son retching. She got up from the long couch space she was sharing with her husband and stretched a little before tiredly making her way to the bathroom door. She pressed her forehead against the cool door and knocked on the door gently.

“Jeremy, honey...?” she said sleepily. “You doing okay in there...?”

Her son's voice was slightly muffled by the door, and he responded to her with choked sobs. _“_ _I'm...I'm fine, Mom...go back to bed with Dad..._ _please...don't worry about me._ _I'll be fine...”_

Lisa let out a small sigh. “Jeremy...”

“ _Please, Mom...”_ Lisa's heart broke for her son upon hearing the pleading in his voice as he begged. _“Just leave me alone...I need to be by myself right now...I'm sorry...please...I'll be fine, Mom, I promise...”_

Jeremy finally let himself break down a bit more freely upon hearing his mother's light footsteps pad away from the bathroom door in compliance. He leaned his forehead against the edge of the toilet bowl as his body shook and the tears rained down his cheeks endlessly.

“I'll be fine...” he kept whispering to himself repeatedly. “Just give me a minute and I'll be fine...”


	9. Torment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meant to have this up last night, but I got home too late and ended up feeling too tired to wrap it up. Anyway, I didn't want to sound too repetitive towards the end, since everything implied there was already covered in the opening of Sweeter, so if anyone needs a reminder of what happened, I'd suggest referring to the first chapter of that story.
> 
> More updates to follow! I'm going to try and wrap up this story first; only a couple chapters left! Next should be an update to my 30-Day OTP fic though. At least, that's what I've planned anyway. We'll see how it goes, lol. My muse has a mind of its own sometimes!

“Well...? That seems to be the last of it.”

Jeremy grunted as he straightened his posture; he and his father had just finished hauling a couch in through the window with the help of some of his father's construction crew and positioned it in his new living room. His father made a show of wiping his hands together to rid himself of invisible dust before giving his son a firm pat on the back. Jeremy gave his father a small smile and a quick nod of gratitude. 

“Thanks, Dad.” 

“No problem, son,” Charlie said, giving him a nod back. “Think you'll do all right here?” 

Jeremy placed a hand on his hip, used the other to scratch at the back of his neck, and let out a small sigh. He let his eyes briefly scan the room before nodding. 

“Yeah,” he said before turning his head towards his father. “Yeah, Dad. I think I'll be all right.” 

Charlie nodded again. “All right. Just know that you can always come back home if...you know.” 

Jeremy chuckled. “Yeah, I know, Dad, thanks. I'll bring my ass back home if I think this isn't really working out for me.” 

“You do that, son,” said Charlie. “And while I don't really care either way, you try not to run your mouth with too many of them foul words, all right? You know how your mother feels about all that.” 

“Yeah, I know, Dad. I know,” Jeremy said with a small smile. “Sorry.” 

His father grinned. “Just be glad she wasn't here right now to hear you.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Well...! I guess that's it then, isn't it?” Charlie asked, rubbing part of his neck. “I'll leave you to it...?” 

“Yeah,” Jeremy said with a nod. “I'll be fine, Dad. I promise.” 

The two men stood there in awkward silence for a little while. Finally, Charlie Daniels cleared his throat. 

“All right, well...don't hesitate to call if you ever need us,” he said to his son.

“Don't worry, I will,” said Jeremy.

Charlie let out a sigh before spreading open his arms. “Come on here, son.” 

Jeremy met his father halfway and the two embraced in a long-overdue hug. Charlie pat his son firmly on the back and Jeremy gave one of his father's shoulders a tight squeeze. They eventually pulled away from each other after a minute. Both men's eyes were a little moist. 

“I'll see you at work tomorrow,” Jeremy said, tongue flicking out briefly to wet his lower lip. “You want me to walk you out to your car, Dad?” 

“No, that's all right, son,” Charlie said, shaking his head. “It's not like we've moved you miles away or anything. We'll be seeing each other in the morning, like you said. You take some time for yourself now; get settled in.” 

Jeremy nodded. “I will, Dad. Thanks.” 

He walked his father to the front door and watched until he had boarded the elevator. Charlie lifted a hand in a farewell to his son just before the elevator doors slid shut; Jeremy had given his father a similar gesture in return. 

After going back inside his apartment and closing the door behind him, Jeremy did a quick survey of his surroundings once more before letting out a soft sigh. Two years had gone by since Kyle's passing; Jeremy was now twenty-four years old. 

Despite his new abode being chock-full of furniture—mostly his father's idea—the new apartment still felt incredibly empty. Jeremy decided to work on the boxes he and his father had placed in the bedroom first; there were a few things that he had brought with him that he wanted to unpack privately on his own. 

He purposefully went for the box that he had placed on top of his mattress containing two bottles of whiskey. The Jack Daniel's brand, specifically. Jeremy remembered when he had purchased them; it had been just shortly after he had received Kyle's first and last letter addressed to him. The drink had always sort of been an inside joke of theirs, and Jeremy had thought it would be clever to greet his friend with a bottle upon picking him up from the airport. 

Jeremy brought the bottles to his kitchen area and placed them both on the counter top. He stared blankly at both bottles for a little while. He didn't think he'd ever have the desire to drink from them, but he also didn't have the heart to throw either of the bottles out, so he eventually settled for placing them in the far back of one of the hanging cupboards.

“Out of sight, out of mind...” Jeremy muttered to himself as he went back to his room to unpack the rest of his belongings. 

Most of the items that Jeremy unpacked were of sentimental value—many of them were things that he hadn't touched in a while for the very same reason. Several binders filled with photographs. A few knick-knacks that reminded him of better days from his childhood. Kyle's letter to him, among other things. Everything within the boxes pretty much revolved around his late best friend in some form or another. 

He wasn't prepared to wipe the dust off of most of these possessions yet. Jeremy stacked some things onto a bookshelf and stuffed others into empty drawers that he had never planned to store clothes in to begin with. When all was said and done, Jeremy wandered out into his living room and plopped down onto his single-seater sofa. 

His father had set up a television set for him, but Jeremy hadn't really watched any shows within the past couple years, mostly because as the emergence of Kaiju were increasing in frequency, even regular programming was constantly getting interrupted with 'breaking news alerts' showing live footage of the battles. In a way, it was all propaganda and a means to boost network ratings. Jeremy wanted no part of it; hadn't wanted any from the start. He had only ever kept an eye on the news before because of Kyle, and now that the man was gone, so was the dark-haired man's sole reason for watching anything. 

The decision to move out from under the wings of his loving parents and to live on his own hadn't been an overnight one. The first year since Kyle's death had been tough—Jeremy had been plagued with merciless and incessant nightmares for a long time before he finally figured out methods that helped him cope with his problem through tireless efforts of trial and error. The construction work helped. So did participating in 'game nights' twice a week with his parents; playing boardgames and cards with his folks was something he hadn't done in _years_ , but it proved to be most soothing. Doing anything that kept his mind busy kept his mind from obsessing over memories of Kyle, and therefore helped tremendously in keeping the dark-haired man's mind, sane. 

After nine months, the nightmares lessened in their intensity. By a year-and-a-half, they were losing their frequency. Exactly a month before the two-year anniversary of his best friend's death, Jeremy had been ready for a change. 

To his surprise, his parents hadn't given him any grief about it, when he made his proposal. It wasn't the first time he had run the idea by his parents—in the past, his parents had expressed their opposition in various ways; either they thought he was too young, too irresponsible to take care of his personal needs such as eating, or they didn't trust him to not get into unreasonable and heated arguments with his neighbors. After all, even Jeremy knew well enough of his own hot temper. Really, the list just went on and on. The most recent one had been his parents were concerned that their son might possibly contemplate suicide while in a state of isolation. As much as Jeremy had wanted to argue against that point, he decided to just listen to his parents and stay home a little bit longer. Jeremy didn't want to think that his resolve was that weak, but at the same time, he figured that he shouldn't underestimate what he could be capable of in such a fragile state. That particular conversation had happened just a few weeks after Kyle's funeral. He hadn't brought the topic back up again since. 

Until one evening, after Jeremy had played with the notion for several days in his mind before finally deciding he'd give approaching his parents about it another shot. He had broached the subject sometime over dinner. 

“ _I've been thinking about going and getting my own place,”_ Jeremy had said rather bluntly, like he always did, while buttering a piece of bread. 

His parents hadn't so much as flinched. Based on their reaction, Jeremy had a feeling their parents must have sensed that this was coming. In fact, he had a feeling that they had probably at some point discussed it; most likely when Jeremy was out like a light in bed. They tended to do that, Jeremy had learned over the years—one time he had caught them in the act, when his parents didn't realize he had heard part of their conversation. They were discussing something about him that Jeremy couldn't remember any of now; all he remembered was that he had been trying to go to the bathroom, his parents had left the door open, and there were certain sounds not entirely related to the subject matter revolving around him that Jeremy found himself wishing to this very day that he could just somehow magically forget that he had ever heard them. 

Instead of resistance, his parents had both simply said, _okay_ , and that had been that. His parents helped him pack up his things and find a nice, affordable place nearby their house, just a few streets away. 

It wasn't so much that Jeremy had desired freedom—perhaps that was initially how it started, but after Kyle's passing, everything had changed. The original plan had been for him and Kyle to move out of their respective houses and move in together as roommates, after the brunette had finished his mandatory service with the PPDC. Now, the mission had changed to become just living out the dream in his best friend's loving memory. 

In Jeremy's mind, it was all he really had left anymore. Aside from Kyle, no one else had really ever mattered as much in his life. Jeremy imagined that no one ever would, ever again. 

He was just fine with that, though. No one had to. 

For a long time, he just simply stared at the television. At the core, Jeremy was a workman; he didn't really dabble in anything that didn't require him to build or break things down with his hands. Music, oftentimes got on his nerves due to a majority of songs containing rather repetitive lyrics, and Jeremy didn't always have the attention span for watching television shows or movies. Variety shows suited him just fine, but he didn't always know when they aired, nor was he the type to actively search for them. 

Still, in that moment, Jeremy found himself at least considering the small silver screen before him. The silence that filled the apartment weighed down heavily on him. He needed a distraction. 

Jeremy got up from his seat and reached for the remote, which his father had left out for him on a small coffee table. Jeremy cradled the remote in his hand for a moment before finally pressing the button that would turn the television on. He took in a small breath when the machine whirred to life, and suddenly the room began to fill with the voices and sounds accompanying the program playing on screen. Jeremy kept the television at a low volume. 

It was some inspirational sports-themed movie playing. The actors were playing baseball. Jeremy eventually settled back into his seat, placed the remote atop one of the arm rests, and stared at the television set, not quite invested in whatever he was watching. 

At some point his eyes began to droop, and when he could fight his grogginess no longer, Jeremy leaned his head back in his chair, shut his eyes, and went to sleep. He didn't know it then, but it was the start of a new habit. Jeremy did try, several times, to fall asleep in his room, but he found that he couldn't really handle the quiet. So most of his nights ended with him in the living room, fast asleep on one a sofa. 

He continued to avoid news programming though, and his father made sure no one had the news running on the radio while they were working on a project. Charlie permitted his workers to listen to news programs whenever Jeremy wasn't nearby or working a shift, but they were otherwise limited to stations that streamed strictly music, which was a compromise that suited his men just fine. Charlie had the respect of his workers, and so did his son. No one was interested in seeing Jeremy's anxiety get set off as a result of listening to coverage of recent Kaiju attacks; the young man's personality had already changed enough as it was, from being quick to poke fun at and engaging in lighthearted banter with his elders to becoming withdrawn and keeping mostly to himself while he worked. Occasionally he would still crack a joke or two, but his words lacked the same cheerful energy that they used to. 

Eventually, after moving, Jeremy settled into his new routine of coming home from a typical day of work, eating what food he happened to stock up on that week, and then falling asleep in front of the television. He made sure to make his apartment give off the vibe that he was having the time of his life at least twice a month, when he knew his parents would stop by to check on him, so as to avoid the scolding and worried lectures from his concerned mother regarding his overall well-being.

Shortly after returning to his apartment from escorting his parents to their car, Jeremy heard the rare sound of his cell phone ringing. Thinking perhaps it was his father calling to discuss work details he had forgotten to mention during the visit—it was one of the ways the two men liked to bond—Jeremy went straight to his room and answered his phone without checking the identification of the caller. 

Which was why he felt surprise upon hearing a familiar voice; one he hadn't heard in what felt like a long time. It didn't take him long to guess who it was, though. 

“ _Jerry!”_

Jeremy pulled the phone away from his head and stared at its screen. The call was coming from an unregistered number. Jeremy blinked and brought the phone back to his ear. 

“Uh...Yancy?” Jeremy asked. 

“ _Yeah, man! It's been a while. Listen, I finally got your message...”_

Jeremy half-smiled and began to walk towards his living room. “Did you, now?” 

“ _Yeah. Sorry it took so long for me to get to it.”_

“It's all right, man.” 

Shortly after moving into his new apartment, Jeremy had left a message for his friend on Yancy's civilian phone. The phone had been shut off and turned in for safekeeping, of course, as per PPDC regulations, but pilots had them returned whenever they were given leave, which was usually granted when there wasn't a lot of activity coming from the breach. This gave them the opportunity to make outside calls, but all phones turned in at the start of a pilot's service had to have a chip installed so that the contents of the calls could be monitored, to ensure that valuable information couldn't be leaked. While this practice did lead to privacy concerns, for most soldiers it was a small price to pay in exchange for keeping in touch with their loved ones from back home. Those who considered the cost to be too high were required to toss their phones and wait until the end of the service in order to obtain new ones without the mandatory restriction. 

Jeremy made a grunting noise as he settled into his favorite sofa. “So...they gave y'all some time off then, I take it?” 

Yancy chuckled softly on the other end. _“_ _Yeah. Only for a couple of days. How_ _ha_ _ve you been?”_

Jeremy leaned his body into the sofa and raised his free arm over his head, spreading open his hand. “Fine...! Good...just moved into my own apartment not too long ago.” 

“ _What? Really? That's great, man!”_ said Yancy. _“You still in Anchorage?”_

“Yeah,” Jeremy said with a small laugh. “Just a few lights away. Nothing major.” 

“ _Ah, I see. Cool, man.”_

“How long did they give y'all?” Jeremy asked. 

“ _Not long at all, man. Just the weekend,”_ said Yancy. _“So we can't really go far.”_

Meaning that they couldn't really stray too far from the Shatterdome, and therefore wouldn't be able to visit anyone from back home. Jeremy nodded; he understood. 

“Sounds good,” he said. “So what are your plans then? Just hang around on base and relax?” 

“ _That's probably what we'll be doing pretty much for the rest of it, yeah,”_ said Yancy. _“I wanted to take Raleigh out on a...an outing, though.”_

Jeremy quirked an eyebrow at the slight pause, but didn't say anything. He allowed his friend to go on. 

“ _...so we got permission to take out a Jeep and go for a ride. We're at a pizza joint right now...I mean, not that the Shatterdome doesn't serve any in the cafeteria, it's just—”_

“Sometimes it's just nice to take a break from it all, isn't it?” Jeremy asked, completing his friend's thought. 

He could almost see Yancy nod. _“_ _Yeah. That's exactly right._ _Anyway, just thought I'd give you a ring..._ _”_

Jeremy chuckled softly. “Well, thanks for checking in.” 

He could hear Raleigh's voice coming through faintly from somewhere behind Yancy. _“_ _What're you doing out here, Yance? Food's gonna get cold.”_

“ _M'talkin' to Jerry,”_ was Yancy's reply. 

“ _Oh, really? Hey...! Can I talk to him too?”_

“ _Yeah, sure. Hang on a sec, let me tell him...”_

Jeremy felt his lips curl into a slight smile upon hearing the sound of rustling from the other end. He spoke up before Yancy had a chance to. 

“I heard him, man,” he said. “Put him on.” 

“ _Oh, you did?”_ Yancy asked. _“Cool. All right, hang on, then. Let me pass him the phone...”_

A second later, Raleigh's voice came in through the ear piece. _“_ _Hey, Jay!”_

Jeremy's smile grew a little more. “Hey, Raleigh. Long time. How are you?”

“ _Great, man! And yeah, it has...how are things back home?”_

“Same old,” said Jeremy. “We're constantly busy with repair projects.” 

“ _Mm...yeah, I bet,”_ Raleigh said, his voice slightly grim. _“Well, we're all doing our best here at the Shatterdome too, you know, fighting the Kaiju and all...”_

Jeremy's smile faded a little at the mention of the monstrous beasts. Judging from the way Raleigh had trailed off in his sentence, the younger man hadn't meant to talk about them either. 

“ _Ah, tch...”_ Raleigh said, clicking his tongue. _“My bad...sorry, Jay...”_

Jeremy shook his head and spoke softly. “Nah, don't worry about it, man. Not your problem.” 

He could hear the wince in Raleigh's tone. _“Still...”_

“Y'all are _Jaeger pilots_ , Raleigh,” Jeremy said with a light laugh. “I'd be surprised if y'all _weren't_ talking about those damn things every five seconds. Besides, I ain't afraid of them.” 

It wasn't a complete lie—Jeremy tended not to fear anything he hadn't had personal experience with; watching live coverage on the news didn't count. In a way, his mind processed things as if he were a removed third-party, watching a movie play; he found himself to be only as invested as he allowed himself to be, and that hadn't been the case for a long time. 

On the other hand, what he _did_ fear was the vividness of his imagination; particularly in those rare moments when his mind was idle. That's when he faced the monsters living under his bed and in his closet, so to speak. 

Jeremy took in a short breath. “Anyway...I don't want to hold you guys up, man. Y'all should go eat.” 

“ _Ah, yeah...”_ Raleigh said, a little sheepishly. 

Jeremy couldn't help smirking a little. “You're hungry as hell, aren't you?” 

He was pretty sure the younger man was blushing. _“N-no...! You've got that wrong, Jay!”_

“Do I?” Jeremy asked, amusement evident in his tone. “ _Man_...! I can hear your stomach growling through the phone. Y'all go and eat your damn food. Don't let me keep you.” 

“ _...we'll call you again right after,”_ said Raleigh. 

“Sure,” Jeremy said with a laugh. “Whatever y'all want to do.”

“ _We will, don't worry,”_ said Raleigh. _“Hang on, let me give the phone back to Yancy.”_

“All right,” said Jeremy.

There were sounds of rustling again as the phone transferred hands, and soon Yancy's voice came back through. _“_ _Hey, Jerry.”_

“Yeah, hey,” Jeremy echoed. “I know y'all have got to eat...listen though, man. Not tryin' to be all sentimental or anything, but thanks for calling.” 

“ _Of course, man,”_ said Yancy. _“You know if it weren't for all the red tape, we'd call you more frequently...”_

“For fucks sake, man,” Jeremy said with a small laugh and shaking his head. “I ain't one of those fragile ice sculptures...I ain't gonna shatter if you run into me.”

Yancy chuckled at that. _“You know that's not what I'm trying to say, Jerry...”_

The dark-haired man rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah...I know. Seriously though, man, my parents come to check in on me so often, it pretty much just feels like there's just a really long hallway between my apartment and their house. So you don't need to worry about me, all right? I promise you they're both doing enough of that for everybody.” 

His friend laughed. _“Yeah...all right, man. I get the picture._ _Raleigh and I'll talk to you later.”_

Jeremy half-smiled. “Whenever.” 

“ _Stop trying to be such a cool asshole, man.”_

“Fuck off, Yancy,” Jeremy said with slight grin. “You'll make your brother cry if you don't go to him soon.” 

That did it, like Jeremy knew it would. He couldn't help smiling at the familiarity of his friend's predictability. 

“ _Good ol' Yancy...”_ Jeremy thought to himself. 

“ _All right,”_ said Yancy. _“Don't work yourself too hard.”_

“And y'all stay safe,” Jeremy said, adding the next part silently. _“_ _Please.”_

He heard his friend laugh one last time. _“_ _Yeah, man. Roger that...”_

The call terminated soon afterward, and suddenly the silence that filled Jeremy's ears seemed more deafening than ever. After a moment, he let out a sigh. 

“ _Shit_...” Jeremy muttered under his breath before getting up from his seat. 

He went into his room to fetch his pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He took them out to his small balcony and lit up a stick. He ended up going through about three before going back inside. 

That night, his sleep was extra restless. Jeremy had chosen that evening to rest in bed, wrapped in his blanket. It was possible that the slight change from his usual sleeping habits was the cause for his nightmares. For the first time in a long while, Jeremy was haunted by a ghost. 

Perhaps he was a bit of a masochist. He knew even before getting too deeply invested in the dream what would eventually happen. Jeremy couldn't help it though. He missed Kyle. 

In the past, the night terrors would sometimes begin with them both as kids. This time, however, it began with Kyle asking Jeremy to come with him, to join the PPDC. This time, Jeremy didn't hesitate. He reached out for Kyle's hand. 

“ _I will,”_ he said. _“I'll come.”_

The tears that stung his eyes felt real when Kyle's specter flinched away from his hand and gave him a soft, rueful smile. 

“ _Oh, Jack...”_ Kyle whispered, his quietly spoken words piercing through Jeremy's heart like a thousand knives. _“Don't lie.”_

Jeremy let out a gasp when Kyle disappeared. _“Wait! Kyle! Please! No...!”_

Everything around him in the dream was shrouded in darkness. A disembodied version of Kyle's voice echoed ominously all around him, filling his ears with its deafening volume. 

“ _Too late, Jack...!”_

Suddenly, a million television screens appeared, creating a cylinder around him. All at once, the screens flickered to life. Jeremy dropped to his knees. 

“ _No...! Please...!”_ Jeremy begged, raising his hands to his head and gripping fistfuls of hair. _“Stop...! No...!”_

The news broadcast that was forever burned into Jeremy's memory began to play. It began with the bloodcurdling roar of the Kaiju that had killed Kyle and his co-pilot. 

It felt so real to Jeremy when he felt himself cry. His body trembled as Kyle's voice screamed words that he had never actually said; however, they were words that Jeremy believed to be true himself, from the depths of his heart. 

“ _I'm so scared, Jack...! You should be here! You should have come with me!”_

Jeremy bolted awake into an upright sitting position, screaming. His body was drenched with sweat that was quickly turning cold. He roughly pulled a pillow in front of his face and broke down into it, hoping he didn't wake any of the neighbors. He remained like that for a long time, with the remnants of Kyle's phantom voice whispering harshly into his ears, accusatory. 

“ _You knew better, Jack...!”_

“I know...I know...!” Jeremy sobbed, his voice cracking. “I'm sorry, Kyle... _please_...! I'm _so sorry_...!” 

“ _You left me alone!”_ the imagined voice of Kyle said harshly; cold and unforgiving. _“You let me die...!”_

“I know...!” Jeremy said, gasping for breath between words. “ _God_ , Kyle...I know...”

“ _You're the reason I'm dead!”_

The dark-haired man rocked his body back and forth, eyes squeezed shut and hands tightly gripping his arms. Eventually he wore himself out and went back to, a thankfully dreamless, sleep.

He was especially quiet when he arrived at work the following day. His father, of course noticed, and Jeremy approached him before the older man could say anything. 

Jeremy took his father aside at some point during their lunch break. They sat next to each other a short distance away from the other workers. Jeremy kept his eyes to the ground as he spoke to his father softly. 

“Before you say anything else, I just want to make it clear that I've got no plans to move back in,” said Jeremy. 

His father frowned, but he nodded in agreement. “All right.” 

“You and Mom can also say no,” said Jeremy.

Charlie moistened his lips. “Come on. Out with it, son. It's not like you to be so roundabout with me.”

His son surprised him by leaning his head against the older man's shoulder, in a rare act of vulnerability. Jeremy closed his eyes and let out a small sigh. 

“Just want to use my old room for one night...” Jeremy whispered. “I need to  get my head back on straight...” 

Charlie frowned again. “You having trouble sleeping again, son?”

“I just need one night,” Jeremy repeated softly. “Should be right as rain again, after that...”

Charlie sighed and nodded. “All right, son...all right. Your mother will be happy to see you anyhow.”

That evening, Jeremy spent a majority of it talking with his parents, and when he went to bed that night, he wasn't plagued with any horrific dreams. Sure enough, when he woke up the next day, he seemed fine. On the surface, at least. 

His parents had extended him the option of staying in their home for longer, but Jeremy declined. It was a moment of weakness he didn't plan to repeat. He thanked his parents, went to work with his father, and then drove straight to his apartment after his shift. 

After taking a shower and changing into a fresh set of clothes, Jeremy walked into his living room and settled himself onto the single-seater sofa. He stared ahead at the blank television, tapping a finger against the remote he had left sitting on one of the armrests. His incessant tapping eventually slowed to a stop, and when it finally did, he let his finger land on the button that would turn the television set on.

In a second, the miniature silver screen flickered to life, and the room slowly became filled with the low sounds of some show that Jeremy didn't recognize. Not that he was really watching anyway. 

Jeremy stared at the screen, not quite following the story's plot, and just staring at the actors as they played their roles. After about an hour or so, Jeremy's eyes finally began to grow heavy, and he eventually succumbed to sleep. 

He woke up the next morning with the television still running. Jeremy let out a yawn and stretched his arms before bringing them back down so he could rub his hands over his face. He leaned his body back into the sofa, gripping the armrests while stretching out his legs. Finally, he let out a soft sigh and nodded to himself. 

“This is where I'll be sleeping, then...” he muttered under his breath. 

Another year would go by successfully without further incident. Jeremy's determination not to allow himself to become devoured by his demons probably had a lot to do with it. 

“ _Don't let your guilt sully your precious memory of Kyle,”_ his mother had told him the night he had come back home for a visit, with his tail between his legs. _“He would never want you to torture yourself over what happened, Jeremy. You know that.”_

He did. He had thanked his mother for her counsel and he'd hung onto her words ever since. Just as Jeremy was finally starting to regain a bit of his old self again though, he received an unexpected call. 

Jeremy was still at work when his phone went off, so he knew it couldn't be his father wanting to talk about a project. Wondering if it was perhaps his mother—though it would have been highly atypical of her to do so, she usually didn't bother her boys while they were at work—he pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen. He was surprised to see the name that flashed there. 

He answered the phone on its third ring. “Hello? Yancy?” 

There was a brief pause. Jeremy almost pulled the phone away from his ear to check if the call was still connected, but then a voice came through.

“ _No, actually...it’s Raleigh.”_

Jeremy frowned. “Oh, Raleigh? Hey...what’s up? Everything okay?” 

Raleigh went straight to the point when he responded. _“Yancy’s_ _ **gone**_ _, Jeremy.”_

Involuntarily, Jeremy felt himself freeze up, wondering if he had heard the other man right. He almost wondered if what the younger man was telling him was a prank, but quickly banished the thought, knowing that Raleigh of all people would never do such a thing. For a moment he wondered why he hadn't heard of it before then until he was reminded of the fact that he'd been avoiding news programs ever since Kyle's death— _of course_ he couldn't have known. Jeremy clicked his tongue and hissed. 

“ _Shiiiit_...” he said, adjusting his hold on the phone. “When? What happened?” 

“ _Two weeks ago,”_ Raleigh said, his voice sounded shaky when he responded. _“_ _ **God**_ _, Jeremy...I shouldn’t even be alive to tell you this…”_

“Hey! Hey...don’t talk like that, okay?” Jeremy said disapprovingly, shaking his head. “Where you at now, man?” 

The phone crackled as Raleigh sighed. _“I’m coming home…”_

“Good. Let me know when you get here,” said Jeremy. “Come over. If you need me to, I’ll pick you up from wherever.” 

“ _Thanks man…”_ said Raleigh. _“I’ll call you again, real soon.”_

Jeremy nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”

He hung up the phone, slipping it into back into his pocket before lifting the cap he was wearing off his head and running a hand through his hair. He gave himself a few minutes to let his mind process the information before shaking his head.

“ _Shit_...” Jeremy muttered as he smacked his cap against his thigh. “God _dammit_...! Dad...!” 

He turned around to face his father. Charlie looked up from where he was, on the roof of the building they were working on, some nails and a hammer in his hands. He raised his eyebrows at his son. 

“Jeremy? What is it?” 

He frowned at the serious look on his son's face. Jeremy shook his head. 

“Just got a call from Raleigh,” he said. “He's coming home.” 

“Isn't that a good thing, son?” Charlie asked, a little confused. 

Jeremy released a small sigh. “Yancy's not with him, Dad.”

His father's expression darkened. It didn't take the older man as much time to process the information. He set down his tools and made his way down to his son's level. 

“Well, damn...” Charlie said finally after he had walked up to his son. 

Jeremy nodded. “Yeah...” 

“He on his way back now?” asked Charlie. 

Jeremy nodded again. “Yeah, he is. I asked him to give me a call if he needed a ride later.” 

“Good. You know where you're going to meet him later?” 

Jeremy gave his father a one-shoulder shrug. “No, I forgot to ask. I'm pretty sure he'll be calling me though.”

Charlie nodded. “All right, well go home then. Wait for him.”

Jeremy nodded gratefully back. “Thanks, Dad.”

He briefly returned his attention to what he had been working on and brought it to a reasonable stopping point before heading to his car. Jeremy was on the way to his house when he received another call from Raleigh. 

Several hours later, he and his best friend's little brother were at Jeremy's apartment, talking. At some point, Raleigh made the mistake of letting it sleep that Kyle hadn't physically read Jeremy's letter before passing, but the younger man eventually managed to find a way to calm the dark-haired man down. 

Finally, after taking a shower, Jeremy settled into his usual place in the living room in front of the television while Raleigh unpacked and made himself at home in the dark-haired man's mostly unused room. That evening, after a little more additional banter between the two men, Jeremy found that sleep came to him a little more easily that night, despite the circumstances. Though he'd never admit it out loud, it was a bit of a relief to have someone familiar within close proximity. 

Eventually Jeremy's eyes fluttered and he fell asleep, not realizing that he had landed on a channel that would later start broadcasting a news feed early in the morning. In a few hours he would wake to the sound of clattering silverware, coming from his kitchen. 


	10. Momentum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a huge time skip here. I've decided that rather than retell all the events of Sweeter from Jeremy's point of view—because that would take _forever_ —I have this chapter take place sometime during and after the final chapter of Sweeter. 
> 
> We're almost at the end of this story. I can hardly believe it...! It seems like so long ago when I first started this series, and that was when I was just dipping my toes into the _Pacific Rim_ fandom. I never would have thought that just one prompt would lead to me to creating a whole series! It's been quite an adventure! Never could have imagined readers would get so attached to my OC characters either.
> 
> Anyway, here's the good news—for those of you who weren't aware—I will be adding _one last part_ to this series. The demand is there, and so is my inspiration. I really couldn't have gotten this far without the support of my wonderful readers, and I'm excited to move on to the next part. That being said, it might take a little while, because I don't want to have more than two chaptered stories in rotation at one time, so after I wrap this story up, I'm going to work towards finishing up my 30-Day OTP story next. 
> 
> The next installment will be an AU of an AU of an AU...I think I counted that right? LOL. Wrap your heads around _that_...! Bet you can't! :p Basically, a happier ending for my poor OC's were demanded. Therefore, that's exactly what the next story is going to be about! Certain things will pan out differently, scenes will be re-written....it's going to be a lot of fun! 
> 
> In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. Hope I haven't bored you all to tears with my ranting!

Everything had happened so quickly, Jeremy had barely had time to process it all. Yancy went from being a dead man to one once again counted among the living. It was a little difficult for the dark-haired man to wrap his head around, especially because it seemed like such an unlikely miracle. His best friend's return unintentionally tore open old wounds and drawing from them fresh blood. For a short period, Jeremy found himself filled with irrational hope that perhaps Kyle would somehow return as well, but then he remembered that there had been a slight difference in circumstances; there hadn't been a body to bury in Yancy's case, because the blonde hadn't truly died. 

With Yancy's return, it had also become no longer necessary for Jeremy to play the role of Raleigh's surrogate brother, and the dark-haired man had been quick to step aside to let the two men pick up where they had left off. Following this, Jeremy had quietly retreated back into his shell. Surprisingly enough, Yancy had been quick to notice this. 

Which led to Jeremy eventually spending an evening with Yancy and his little brother at their home, eating dinner with them and watching a movie. The lead actor wasn't one that Jeremy recognized, though that wasn't really saying much. For all the television he watched, the dark-haired man didn't really follow any aspect of the entertainment industry. There was something about the actor though, Nathaniel Crawford, that really bothered him. The minute the man appeared on screen, Jeremy decided that he couldn't stand the actor. After taking several seconds to think about it, Jeremy realized why—the man reminded him an awful lot about Kyle. It wasn't so much that they shared physical similarities, because they didn't, but it was more so the way he performed his character and the costume he was wearing.

In a few weeks, they'd all make the connection. Raleigh would find some videos posted on the Internet of interviews with Nathaniel discussing what inspired him to take the role he did in his latest film. Nathaniel would mention Ethan, Raleigh would realize the actor was talking about Kyle's late co-pilot, and then he would tell Yancy about it, who would, in turn, inform Jeremy about it. Until then, however, the dark-haired man had no clearly pinpointed source for his agitation. 

He had ended up leaving only a few minutes into the movie. Shortly afterward, Yancy had placed a call to Tendo regarding Jeremy. They met at a bar, several days after the conversation, to discuss the finer details. 

Tendo noticed when Yancy entered the bar and held up a hand in greeting. The blonde noticed his friend just as quickly and shot him a grin before walking over. 

“Thanks for meeting me, Tendo,” Yancy said as he took a seat beside his friend. 

“Aw, come on, Yancy!” Tendo said with a smile. “You know I've always got time for you and your bro!” 

“Yeah, well, thanks all the same,” Yancy said before flagging down the bartender. “My man! A glass of your best on tap, straight up, please.” 

“You got it, bud,” answered the barkeep. “Want to start up a tab?” 

“Absolutely,” Yancy said before returning his attention to Tendo. “You mind if we get right to the point?” 

“Not at all,” Tendo said, shaking his head. “In fact, I wanted to tell you—the lab should be ready to take your friend on a bit sooner than they expected.” 

“Really,” Yancy said, raising both eyebrows.

Tendo shrugged a shoulder. “You don't know 'em as well as your brother does, but the two scientists working on this job are geniuses.” 

Just then, the bartender came by with Yancy's drink. The blonde took the glass and thanked him before returning his attention to his friend. 

“I don't doubt it, and that's great news,” said Yancy. “How much sooner are we talking here?” 

“I'd say by the end of the week,” said Tendo. “Most likely Saturday.” 

“That's fantastic,” Yancy said with a nod. “Did you look into the other thing I asked you about?” 

“I did,” said Tendo. “I'm afraid the answer is 'no,' though.” 

Yancy frowned. “How come?” 

Tendo shrugged helplessly. “He wasn't directly connected to the Drift when he died.” 

“Wasn't connected to the what? You shitting me man?” Yancy asked, jaw tight. “So that's it then? His spirit's just lost forever because he wasn't still hooked to the Jaeger when he died?” 

“Unfortunately,” Tendo said with a nod.

Yancy shook his head. “Simple as that?” 

Tendo half-smiled. “Well, I wouldn't say _simple_...” 

“Yeah, well that's the basic gist of it though, isn't it?” Yancy said, running a hand through his blonde hair as he leaned back in his seat and let out a sigh. “ _Damn_.” 

Tendo tilted his head slightly to one side. “I didn't know you were close to the guy.” 

“Well, if I'm going to be honest, I _wasn't_ ,” Yancy admitted while rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean...well...it's just really complicated, man.” 

The blonde didn't elaborate and Tendo didn't press. A brief silence settled between them. The former Shatterdome technician nursed his drink while Yancy stared off into space, eyes stormy. 

“ _He could have asked me to relay a last message to his family or anyone else for that matter, in his final moments,”_ Yancy thought to himself. _“But that day he chose to have me read Jeremy's letter to him instead, I guess in hopes that Kyle was still lingering and could somehow hear over the Drift...”_

Yancy still had some liquor left in his glass. He turned to Tendo, who looked at him questioningly, and raised it. 

“To Ethan Bentley,” Yancy said solemnly. “A respectable soldier whom I only had the privilege of knowing for a short time...but believe me when I say I wish I could have known him better. May his soul forever rest in peace.” 

“Hear, hear,” Tendo murmured quietly as he too raised his glass and clinked it with Yancy's before taking a sip from his drink. 

The two continued their conversation well into the evening. They made official plans to meet that Saturday, and Yancy waited until Friday afternoon, when he knew his friend would be off from work, to call his friend Jeremy up about it. 

Jeremy had been lazing about under a tree just before receiving the call. He had been like that for at least an hour, on his backside, hands behind his head, one leg propped up and the ankle of his other leg resting against his knee as he stared up at the sky. A bouquet of pink carnations were at his side. He had swallowed his pride in order to ask for what he needed. He was a bit of a tough customer; it took the florist he was asking advice from several tries to find flowers with a meaning that suited Jeremy. Finally deciding on the carnations, Jeremy quickly paid for them and went on his way. 

When he first arrived at the cemetery, Jeremy purposefully left behind his carton of cigarettes and lighter in the glove compartment of his truck to rid himself of any temptation. He then walked up to a headstone just under a tree, bouquet of flowers in hand. He had unconsciously reached into his pocket for the cigarettes and after remembering that he had left them behind, he rubbed the index and middle fingers of the same hand against his lips once in a slightly frustrated motion before dropping his hand. He moistened his lips and cleared his throat, while shifting the weight on his feet awkwardly, a hand tightly gripped around the bouquet of carnations. Jeremy roughly scratched at his lower lip with the thumb of his free hand before speaking. 

“Hey...” he said finally. “I...I just wanted to say I'm sorry...I know it's been a while...” 

He sighed and slowly dropped to a squat. He licked his lips nervously again as he set the flowers down on the ground before the headstone. Jeremy stared long and hard at the name etched on the rock before gradually reaching out a hand and tracing the lettering. The tears began to stream from his eyes before he had a chance to stop them. Jeremy quickly retracted his hand and wiped them away with his arm. 

“Shit...I'm sorry...” Jeremy said in a strangled whisper. “Sorry for being such a damn coward, I just...I didn't think I could... _fuck_...!” 

It had taken him several minutes to collect himself. When he finally calmed down, Jeremy lifted his head from his arm and forced a small smile. His lips trembled slightly at the corners. 

“Anyway...I thought I'd bring you flowers,” Jeremy said softly. “I hope you don't mind...sorry they're this pink color...I'm not trying to call you a chick or anything, I...” 

Jeremy groaned and sat down completely on the ground while smacking his hands to his face in self-irritation. Finally, he turned around and flopped back onto the ground, an arm over his eyes. 

“ _Fuck it_...” Jeremy muttered. “I don't even know what it is I'm trying to say. Sorry, Kyle...”

He had remained there in silence for some time before eventually moving both hands to the back of his head. For a while, he glared at the sky. After several more moments of silence, Jeremy started rambling. 

“So a lot's happened, you know...” he said. “Yancy died and then came back to life...well, I guess that's not _entirely_ true, since he never died to begin with...anyway...” 

He paused for a moment. There was a light breeze and he listened to the rustling of leaves and grass. Jeremy took a short breath before continuing. 

“To be honest with you, now that all the dust has settled, so to speak...I think I'm finally feeling my age catch up to me,” Jeremy said, chuckling softly a few seconds later. “You know what...? In fact, I'm just going to say what I know you've been waiting for me to say for years. Maybe my damn smoking habit's finally caught up to me.” 

He heaved a long sigh. Jeremy lifted a hand to his forehead and scratched at it with one of his thumbs. 

“Think that's enough to shock you back to the land of the living...?” Jeremy asked as he shook his head at his own terrible joke. “Anyway...bottom line is...I'm fucking _tired_ now, Kyle...lately, I just want to fucking _sleep_ all day...” 

His eyes began to grow heavy while he watched the clouds. Jeremy's speech began to slow as he started to feel a little groggy. 

“You know what I'm most afraid of, man...?” Jeremy whispered. “It's forgetting your face...not being able to remember what your damn voice sounds like...fuck, man...you'd better promise to come and get me before any of that happens or I swear to God, when I get up there to kingdom come, I'll give you a damn earful about it and you can bet your ass I won't be the least bit sorry...” 

He spent a few seconds fighting against his heavy eyelids. A light frown formed on his features as he stubbornly squinted his eyes, trying to keep them open. He flexed one of his hands underneath his head. 

“Shit...I think I'm going to take a nap for a bit,” Jeremy said as his eyes began to flutter. “You don't mind, right...?” 

Just before he completely shut his eyes, Jeremy felt his phone buzz in his pocket, causing him shake off some of his sleep. Frowning, he pulled out his phone and checked to see who was calling. 

He raised an eyebrow before answering the phone. “Yancy?” 

“ _Hey, Jerry,”_ came his friend's familiar voice. _“What're you up to, man?”_

Jeremy cleared his throat and slowly got up into a sitting position. He rubbed at one of his eyes with the palm of his free hand. 

“Nothing much, man,” said Jeremy. “Did you want to talk about something...?” 

“ _As a matter of fact, yes,”_ said Yancy. 

“What's up?" asked Jeremy.

“ _You doing anything tomorrow?”_

“...tomorrow?” Jeremy asked, frowning a little as he thought for a moment, and then shook his head. “Nope. I think tomorrow's all clear. Why? You got something in mind?” 

“ _Yeah, actually, I do,”_ said Yancy. _“Keep your schedule open for tomorrow morning. Rals and I are going to pick you up around ten.”_

Jeremy blinked. “Uh...okay...? You going to tell me what this is about, man?” 

“ _You'll see tomorrow,”_ said Yancy. _“Later, dude.”_

He hung up before the dark-haired man could respond. Jeremy frowned. 

“Hello? Yancy...? Yancy...! Hey!” Jeremy pulled the phone away from his ear, glaring at the screen and muttering under his breath. “Like a fucking whirlwind, sometimes...” 

He noticed the time and sighed. The cemetery was about to close. Grunting softly, Jeremy rose to his feet and dusted himself off. He then turned back around and bent forward slightly, placing a hand on top of Kyle's headstone. 

“I'll come back again soon, yeah...?” he said softly. “Promise.” 

He retracted his hand, closing his eyes as he pressed a pair of fingers to his lips before opening them again when he reached back out to touch the stone, transferring the kiss. Jeremy then straightened his posture and took a step back, keeping his eyes on the stone before digging into on of his pockets for the keys to his truck. 

“Real soon,” Jeremy said just before turning around and heading towards where he had parked. “I swear it...” 

He was back at his apartment within minutes and went straight to sleep. When he was roused by the sound of his phone vibrating the following morning, however, Jeremy felt as if he had only slept for a few minutes. 

Jeremy groaned when he answered the phone. He was still tired and had forgotten that Yancy had said he'd be picking him up in the morning. 

“ _What_ , dude...?” Jeremy said, openly irritable. “I've got the day off today, man...give me a fucking break...!” 

He sighed when Yancy chuckled in response. _“_ _Come on, crabby pants! I told you Rals and I would be by to get you this morning, remember?”_

It took a second for him to recall the conversation. When he did, Jeremy groaned. 

“Fuck...! That's right...hang on a second...” 

Yancy laughed. _“Take your time, man. We'll be waiting for you outside.”_

After hanging up, Jeremy fumbled around for a change of clothes. He started brushing his teeth shortly after pulling on a shirt. Within a few minutes, he combed his hair, threw on a jacket, and was out the door. It didn't take him long to spot Yancy and his brother in the car once he got outside. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed Raleigh was in the backseat, motioning for him to sit in the front. Jeremy opened the car door and hesitated before getting in. 

“Y'all cool with me being up front?” he asked. 

“Yeah, don't worry about it,” Yancy said. “Come on.” 

“Wouldn't be back here otherwise,” Raleigh added with a smile. 

“Well...all right then,” Jeremy said with a nod as he climbed in and shut the door. “If y'all are sure about it. Where are we going, anyhow?” 

“You'll see,” Yancy said as he started driving away from the apartment complex. 

It was all the answer Jeremy got until they arrived at an unmarked building. Jeremy looked between the two brothers curiously after Yancy parked and they all eventually got out of the car. 

“Where are we?” Jeremy asked. 

“At a lab one run by a couple of our friends,” Raleigh said before raising a hand in greeting to a man approaching them. “Hey! Tendo!” 

“Morning, gentlemen!” Tendo replied, walking up to the three men and holding out a hand towards Jeremy. “You must be their friend, Jeremy.” 

“Uh...yeah, I am,” Jeremy said, shaking Tendo's offered hand. 

Tendo nodded. “Heard a lot about you from Raleigh and Yancy. Right this way.” 

Jeremy frowned as he was ushered into the building by his two friends and Tendo. “Would someone please just tell me what the hell is going on?” 

Tendo flashed the two Becket brothers a grin. “Boy, you two weren't exaggerating at all about his temper.” 

Yancy laughed. “You get used to it.” 

Jeremy scowled. “Right here, y'all...” 

“Hey, take it easy,” Raleigh said, smiling warmly as they walked towards a set of double doors. “Truth is, Jay...Yancy and I thought you might want to try some Drifting.” 

Jeremy raised an eyebrow. “Drifting...? You mean like how you and Yancy piloted those Jaegers?” 

“Yeah,” Raleigh said with a nod. 

“Well I can't say it's something I've really been fantasizing about,” Jeremy said, shaking his head with a slight frown on his face. “Whatever gave y'all that idea...?” 

“Come on, man,” said Yancy. “You telling me you haven't been the least bit curious what we were up to when we were working for the PPDC?” 

Jeremy frowned. “I—” 

“We're in need of someone willing to help us out with a new piece of technology we've got developed here,” Tendo cut in to explain. 

Jeremy rubbed at his temple, slightly exasperated. “ _What_...?” 

They entered a room where two men in lab coats were busy working. Among the machinery was a chair in the center of the room with a Pons system connected to it. The chairs had wires attached to it leading to a giant machine behind it. 

“...the _fuck_ is _that_...?” Jeremy said, making it sound as if he was completing his earlier thought rather than expressing an entirely separate one. 

“Ah! I'm glad you asked!” one of the scientists said, suddenly appearing at Jeremy's side, causing the other man to jump. 

“Holy shit...!” Jeremy hissed. 

The scientist didn't seem to notice that he had startled the dark-haired man. “Dr. Newton Geiszler! But please...call me Newt!” 

“Newt! _Please_...!” the other scientist said, hobbling over as quickly as he could with his cane. “Show some manners!” 

Jeremy eyed this other man warily. “And you are...?” 

“Hermann Gottlieb,” the man answered him, holding out a hand. 

Jeremy shook it. The man named Newton grinned. 

“And you can call _him_ Hermie!” he said brightly. 

One of Hermann's eyes twitched. “I would appreciate you not influencing our guests to adopt your rather nonsensical ideas...” 

“Oh, _loosen up_ , Hermie!” 

“Would someone _please_ tell me what's going on here?” Jeremy asked, shaking his head. 

“Ah, yes of course,” Hermann said with a nod. “I would be more than happy to bring you up to speed! Please excuse my colleague...” 

Jeremy half-smiled. “No problem..." 

Hermann nodded. “If I may direct your attention this way please...” 

Jeremy looked to where the other man was directing his attention. It was towards the chair in the center of the room. 

“What is it?” he asked. 

“It's a Pons system,” said Hermann. “Similar technology was used by Jaeger pilots during the Kaiju War—”

“Only this is meant for a single person!” Newton said excitedly, abruptly cutting the other scientist off. “Normally, Drifting requires the cooperation of two individuals, but this is an entirely new thing we're trying!” 

Hermann sighed. “Honestly, Newt...! Would you _please_ not interrupt...?” 

Jeremy frowned slightly. “What exactly are you trying...?” 

“We want to see if it's possible for someone to navigate the Drift solo,” Newton saod enthusiastically, completely ignoring the other scientist's request. “The only thing is, we were in need of a clean slate—someone who's never Drifted with anyone before.” 

Jeremy shook his head. “I'm not sure I follow...” 

“They need help with a project they're working on, Jerry,” Yancy said, joining in on the conversation. “They need someone who hasn't Drifted before to confirm that what they're doing works.” 

“Eventually, we hope to help former soldiers of the PPDC using our methods,” said Hermann. 

“I don't get it,” said Jeremy. “Why can't you use someone who _has_ Drifted before?” 

“Because it might tamper with the results,” said Newton. “Ever hear people say that the mind can play tricks on you? Well, Hermie and I are pretty sure that's _exactly_ what's going to happen if we use a former Jaeger pilot as our guinea pig.” 

If he hadn't been so busy trying to figure out what exactly he was being told, Jeremy might have allowed himself to feel amused at the way Hermann bristled at the nickname. Jeremy turned his attention to Raleigh when he heard the younger man clear his throat. 

“You don't have to do this if you don't want to, Jay...” he said. “But we'd really appreciate it if you could help.” 

“For science!” Newton exclaimed, earning himself a disapproving thwack from Hermann's cane. 

Jeremy looked between Raleigh and Yancy, a small frown on his face as he moistened his lips and tilted his head slightly to one side. After a few seconds he shook his head. 

“There's something y'all aren't telling me, isn't there?” he said finally. 

“I know it's a lot to ask, Jerry...” Yancy admitted. “But do you think you could trust us on this one...?” 

Jeremy searched the other man's eyes for a moment before lightly scratching at his lower lip with a thumb. He let out a soft chuckle.

“Well, shit...” he said. “Just charge in blindly, huh...?” 

“It's all right if you don't want to, Jay...” Raleigh said, repeating his earlier words. 

Jeremy frowned and shook his head. “No...I don't think so. Y'all wouldn't be asking me in the first place if you didn't have your reasons. I know y'all better than that. Come on. Give a guy a little credit.” 

Yancy half-smiled. “Won't lie to you then, Jerry...” 

“Thought as much...” Jeremy said with a small sigh. 

He took another couple of moments to think. Finally coming to a decision he nodded while rubbing at the back of his neck. 

“All right,” Jeremy said. “So are there any risks to doing this Drift thing?”

“Oh, well there's always internal bleeding, possible brain damage, maybe even going into a coma...!” Newton supplied cheerfully. “Really, it's not too much different from piloting a Jaeger on a regular basis.” 

Jeremy looked at Yancy and his brother with a somewhat amused expression on his face. “And y'all did all this _voluntarily_...?” 

Raleigh shrugged. “We were trying to save the human race, Jay.”

“Ah, right...” Jeremy said with a nod. “Point made...but now...?”

This time, Hermann was the one to respond. “Though we are obligated to tell you the risks, they are to a far lesser degree.” 

“How's that?” Jeremy asked. 

“Since the system is no longer being used to pilot a Jaeger,” said Hermann. “The process is considerably less detrimental to one's physical and mental health.” 

Jeremy moistened his lips again. “Huh. Well...say I agree to do this for y'all...mind telling me what exactly I'm supposed to find? Or is that going to mess up your experiment or something...?” 

Hermann exchanged a brief glance with Raleigh and Yancy before responding. “While it would be preferred to be able to test our theory without you entering in with any biases...” 

He stopped when Jeremy held up a hand. The dark-haired man shook his head. 

“I get it. Don't worry about it,” he said. “Never mind.”

“You sure, Jay?” Raleigh asked. 

“Hey. Y'all are asking me to have a little faith, right?” Jeremy said with a slight shrug as he approached the chair at the center of the room. “I mean, sure, this seat looks like some weird Frankenstein shit popped right out of a movie, but...” 

He looked up at his friends and gave them a bit of a lopsided smile. “I figure...y'all wouldn't just purposefully put me in some sort of life-threatening position.” 

“So is that a go then?” Newton said excitedly. “Are you in? Are we doing it?” 

“What do I do?” Jeremy asked. “Just sit in this thing?” 

“Yup! That's it!” Newton said merrily. “You sit in the chair, we connect you to the Drift and then blammo! We see if you find someone out there.” 

Jeremy scrunched his nose. “Sounds like you're about to send me into outer space or something...” 

“Pretty much!” Newton said, grinning wildly before turning to Tendo. “Hey, Tennie! He's in! He's doing it! Quick! Let's get the ball rolling before he changes his mind!” 

Tendo laughed and took his place in front of some controls. “Roger that, Newt! Man, this brings back some memories...” 

Jeremy allowed himself to settle into the experimental chair. He shook his head at Raleigh and Yancy. 

“Y'all have got some crazy friends, man,” he said. 

“Look who's talking,” Yancy said, chuckling. 

Jeremy smirked slightly before giving his full attention to Hermann, who was explaining some things. “If you could please sit back and make yourself comfortable...we are going to lower the headgear...it may help if you keep a hold of your armrests, and...” 

In a few minutes, Jeremy was ready to enter the Drift. Raleigh and Yancy stood nearby to watch. Newton looked up from his monitors and flashed everyone a grin. 

“Systems are green! I say fire away, Tens!”

“You've got it!” Tendo said with a smile and a nod. “Solo neural bridge commencing in ten...nine...eight...!” 

Jeremy took in a short breath and gripped the armrests of the chair a little more tightly. Despite how he had acted, he was a little nervous. He had agreed to help even with knowledge of the dangers partly because he felt that he really didn't have that much to lose. Still, that didn't prevent him from feeling a little fear. 

“ _...six...five...!”_

He soon could barely hear all the voices of the people around him; they were being drowned out by the increasing volume of his heart's rhythm in his ears. Jeremy tried to focus on his breathing—the last thing that he wanted to do was give off an impression that he was anything other than the utmost calm. 

“ _...three...two...!”_

Jeremy wondered what it was the scientists needed him to find. He latched onto that thought in order to distract himself. At some point, he felt an odd tingling sensation course through him and he wondered whether or not he was imagining things. 

“ _... **one!** ”_

He realized he wasn't though, when he felt as if someone were grabbing him. Jeremy let out a soft gasp; his posture tightened for an instant before going completely slack. He felt like he was being pulled back for a second before being thrust roughly forward, barreling towards something—though he didn't know what—at an incredible speed. There was a moment where his ears were overwhelmed with loud, chaotic sounds and he experienced some difficulty breathing. At some point he grew dizzy and shut his eyes. Above the din, he could once again hear a few voices, but they came through very faintly. 

“ _How's he looking, Tendo?”_

“ _The connection's strong. Looks like he's starting to stabilize!”_

Jeremy grunted when he was suddenly swept off his feet and smacked onto his backside. When he opened his eyes, everything was pitch black. 

“ _Holy shit...”_ Jeremy thought to himself, feeling a bit surprised at how loud he sounded. _“If this is the Drift, then this is something else...”_

Too stunned to feel embarrassment, Jeremy lay there helplessly for a moment, breathing harshly. He reached for his face with his hands and patted his cheeks, as if doing so would help confirm whether or not what he was experiencing was real for sure that way. Jeremy exhaled.

“ _All right...well, not sure whatever the hell it is I'm looking for, but I guess I should be looking for it...”_ Jeremy muttered in his thoughts, giving himself a mini-pep talk. _“...in a minute, though. Yeah...”_

He found it fascinating when he heard his own perplexed laughter reverberate through the Drift. Jeremy remained sprawled out on what he supposed was the ground and stared at what he assumed was _up_. He shook his head. 

“ _I just need a fucking minute...”_


	11. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaand...WE MADE IT!!!!! But only because I had most of this chapter written up MONTHS ago...I've just been editing it from time to time while I was in the middle of writing the rest of it, as I came up with other ideas.
> 
> I'm seriously tempted to just release the first chapter of the fourth part this weekend, because aside from a few edits I need to make, it's mostly ready for posting, BUUUT...I seriously don't want to have too many stories going at once, so it's unfortunately going to have to wait until I finish one of the other two chaptered fics I've got rolling right now. BAH! 
> 
> Updating the 30-Day OTP fic next! No guarantees that it'll be up today, but hopefully at some point soon!

Jeremy was blinded by a sudden burst of white light. He squinted, trying to let his eyes get used to his surroundings. For a minute, he couldn’t figure out which direction was what. Then, he heard a familiar voice—one he hadn’t heard in quite some time, but Jeremy recognized it immediately and knew exactly who it belonged to. He felt his heart clench, realizing he hadn’t forgotten. Jeremy hoped deep down that he’d never forget. 

“ _Aw, shucks…!_ That you, Jack?!” 

Shortly thereafter, Jeremy could see a figure slowly emerge from the light. As the man drew closer, he fully materialized in front of Jeremy, with a huge smile on his face. Jeremy’s jaw dropped slightly, and one of the hands at his sides began to tremble. 

Meanwhile, the Becket brothers stood, side-by-side, observing Jeremy. Yancy had his arm around Raleigh’s waist, and his younger brother had his head resting on the older man’s shoulder. 

“Think he’ll find Kyle?” Raleigh whispered. 

Barely a second after the question left his lips, both brothers saw Jeremy’s lips part slightly and tears begin to stream down the dark-haired man's cheeks, his eyes hidden behind the Pons device. 

“Oh, I think he found him,” Yancy whispered back, as he turned his head to press a kiss against Raleigh's head, his own eyes glassy. 

In the Drift, Jeremy felt as if his feet were firmly planted, unable to move and unable to believe his eyes. The only movement he was capable of performing was to lift his arms in order to catch Kyle, who laughed as he raced towards Jeremy. Kyle threw his arms over Jeremy's shoulders and buried his face against the dark-haired man's neck. Even in the Drift, tears welled in Jeremy's eyes; he wrapped an arm around the brunette's waist and ran fingers from his other hand through Kyle's hair. Jeremy couldn't believe the solidity of the other man. 

“Holy shit...” Jeremy whispered. “Kyle...?”

The two men pulled slightly away from each other. Kyle looked into Jeremy's eyes and grinned. 

“That's right,” the brunette said brightly. “In the flesh! Well, sort of...” 

Jeremy moved his hands and placed them on either side of Kyle's face, running his thumbs over Kyle's cheeks just under the other man's eyes. He shook his head, brows creased together. 

“ _How_...?” he asked. 

Kyle laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “Wish I could tell you, Jack, but I really don't know. I'm glad, though...” 

Jeremy shook his head again. “This is real, right...?” 

“I think so...? I mean...this _is_ the Drift, at least...” said Kyle. “You know, though...how did you get in here, anyway? Are there still Kaiju out there? You piloting a Jaeger right now, Jack?” 

“The war's over, Kyle. It ended not too long ago,” said Jeremy. “You've been...it's been...about eight years since, well... _you know_...”

Kyle shook his head slightly and whistled. “ _Geez._ I've been gone that long, huh...? Damn, I wish I had been around to see everything pan out. Time sure flies...!” 

Jeremy scowled at him. “ _Shut up_ , man.” 

Kyle's eyes widened when Jeremy suddenly pressed their lips together, but he was quick to adapt. He closed his eyes; the kiss was slow and sweet. When they parted, Jeremy was blushing. 

“ _Well_...!” Kyle breathed, grinning wildly. 

“...I owed you an answer, remember?” Jeremy mumbled as he averted his gaze. “Better late than never or whatever...right? Guess I should have thought about my delivery though, sorry...” 

Kyle laughed. He cupped his hands around Jeremy's cheeks and gently turned the other man's head back towards him.

“It's _fine_ , Jack,” Kyle said with a smile. “Really.” 

“ _God_...” Jeremy whispered, placing his hands over Kyle's and giving them a light squeeze. “They're going to force me out of here eventually, aren't they...?” 

Kyle half-smiled. “That's how it works, Jack...” 

“Well, I don't ever want to leave,” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “So long as this is where you'll be.”

“I'll still be with you,” said Kyle. “Even after they pull you out of the Drift, Jack. I promise.” 

“I'm happy right here though,” Jeremy said stubbornly. “With you.” 

Kyle chuckled. “What are we, five again?” 

Jeremy shrugged. “Sure.” 

Kyle groaned. “ _Jack_...! Come on! Be serious!” 

“I am, though,” Jeremy said with a slight frown. 

Kyle's shoulders dropped slightly. He sighed in mild exasperation, though an amused smile played on his lips. Kyle lifted a hand and let his fingers run through some of Jeremy's hair. 

“Difficult as you are, I've always loved you,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “Still do.” 

“I...I...love you too, Kyle,” Jeremy stammered, his face flushing a healthy hue of red. 

He moved his head forward and pressed his warm cheek against Kyle's. He muttered into the brunette's ear. 

“Sorry it took me so long to figure it out though...” 

Kyle laughed and turned his head. Their lips met for another kiss. A few seconds into it, Kyle opened his eyes; he was the first to hear the seemingly far away voices. 

“ _...need to override...!”_

“ _...don't know how...we're losing him...it's like he's...”_

“ _...got to do something...”_

Kyle frowned and gently pried Jeremy away from him. The dark-haired man looked at him curiously and shook his head. 

“What?” Jeremy asked in a slightly annoyed tone, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Come on, Jack...” Kyle said, chuckling softly. “You know exactly what.”

“I don't,” Jeremy insisted. 

Kyle sighed, but his lips curled into a small smile. “You're impossible.” 

“I don't want to leave you,” said Jeremy. 

“I'll be right here, Jack, I told you. Stop panicking,” Kyle said as he placed his hands on Jeremy's chest. “All right, now hang on a sec...I've only done this one other time...should work, though!” 

Jeremy frowned. “ _What_...? Hey! Wait! Kyle! Hang on a sec!” 

He was surprised by Kyle shoving him back roughly, and immediately Jeremy felt as if he were falling from a cliff. He tried to grasp for Kyle, but the brunette suddenly disappeared from view, seemingly swallowed by the light. Jeremy yelled in frustration. 

He gasped for breath when he regained consciousness in the real world. Someone unhooked the Pons system from his head. Jeremy whipped around and tried to grab it from them. 

“Hey! Give that back!” 

“Jeremy!” said Raleigh. “ _Calm down_ , will you?” 

He and his brother pushed the dark-haired man back down onto the seat. Jeremy thrashed about, trying to break free of their hold. 

“No! Put me back!” Jeremy shouted angrily. “Put me the fuck back in there!” 

“We can't do that, man,” said Yancy. “We almost lost you for a second, there.”

“Then fucking lose me!” said Jeremy. “You guys don't understand...! I don't give a shit if all that just now was real or fake...” 

Raleigh bit his lip. “Jeremy...”

The dark-haired man turned to look at the younger man. “Raleigh... _please_...! You don't get it, man...! I _found him_ in there...! I _found Kyle!_ ” 

His words surprised the brothers, causing them to loosen their grip just enough so that Jeremy could shake loose. He jumped to his feet. 

Raleigh grabbed the older man by the arm. “Jeremy! _Wait!_ ” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa...! _Hold. On!_ ” one of the scientists said then, rounding from the monitors he had been sitting in front of and bounding over to Jeremy. “You're saying you _found someone_ while you were Drifting there just now?” 

“ _Yeah._ I did,” Jeremy said tightly. “And I need to get back in there.” 

“Holy cow!” Newton said, throwing his arms up in the air. “So the experiment was a success!” 

“You found Kyle?” Yancy asked. 

“ _Yes!_ ” Jeremy snapped. “How many times do I have to tell y'all...?” 

“What'd he say?” asked Raleigh. 

“He said he'd still be with me, even after I came back,” said Jeremy. “But I don't think...” 

“Oh ho! So he's latched on, then!” Newton said, interrupting excitedly. 

Jeremy frowned. “What? What are you talking about...?” 

Raleigh took a second to process Newton's words before his face suddenly lit up with realization. “Ah! I get it! Then that's great news, Jay!”

Yancy smiled nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Jerry, that's fantastic! Try calling for him!”

 “Try _calling_ for him?” Jeremy asked incredulously. “What in the hell are you all saying...?” 

“Think it, man!” Raleigh said, tapping a finger at his temple. “Try calling his name.” 

Jeremy shook his head. “What...?” 

“Seriously, man,” said Yancy. “Just try it.” 

Jeremy briefly glanced at the other three men in the room. Tendo was nodding his head in encouragement, Newton was bouncing around with excitement, and Hermann was approaching him slowly with his cane. 

“Our reason for not telling you was to prevent you from experiencing disappointment, should the results have differed from what we were expecting,” Hermann explained in a kind tone. “Drifting with the deceased was not quite thought to be possible until recently...” 

Jeremy's brows knit together. “I don't understand...” 

“You believe you met someone a moment ago, yes?” asked Hermann. “In the Drift?”

Jeremy nodded slowly. “Yes...?”

Hermann smiled. “Then concentrate on finding that person again now, without the assistance provided by the Pons system. Now, realistically, this may end up taking some practice, but...” 

Jeremy was skeptical. He flicked out a tongue to moisten his lower lip. 

 “So what, then...?” Jeremy asked. “You guys just seriously want me to like...call his name, or something?” 

Hermann nodded. “Precisely. Only don't say it out loud. _Think it_.” 

Jeremy hesitated for a moment, and then decided that perhaps he didn't have much to lose from humoring the man, so he tried it. Any lingering feelings of uncertainty or doubt were completely eradicated when he heard Kyle's voice. Jeremy closed his eyes and he thought he could almost see Kyle rushing towards him again, from out of the Drift's light. Jeremy imagined himself reaching out one of his hands and Kyle taking hold of it firmly, a bright smile on his face. 

“ _...see? I'm right here with you, Jack. Just like I promised.”_

“Holy hell...” Jeremy whispered shakily as he took a small step backward, away from everyone. “I can't fucking believe it...! I...” 

“What?” Raleigh asked. “What is it, Jeremy?” 

“Everything all right?” asked Yancy. 

Jeremy shook his head, forcing himself to swallow down the lump that had formed in his throat. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at the two brothers. 

“I don’t know how, but I think...Kyle,” Jeremy said, sounding awestruck. “I can hear him right now, I...either that, or I'm fucking losing it.”

Yancy and Raleigh exchanged a knowing glance. Jeremy looked between the two brothers, overwhelmed with emotion. Raleigh gave the dark-haired man a small smile. 

“Nah. Believe it or not, that's normal,” Raleigh said, chuckling softly and giving the older man a reassuring nod. “Congratulations, Jay...”

“Yeah, man,” said Yancy. “We're really happy for you.”

Jeremy still wasn't sure if he could believe what was happening. Wanting to confirm that he wasn't imagining things, Jeremy's eyes shifted to one side as he concentrated his thoughts. 

“ _Kyle...?”_ Jeremy asked, the tone of his internalized question carrying a bit of uncertainty. 

His heart fluttered up hearing Kyle's laughter resound in his mind. _“Still here, Jack. Seriously! Stop being so ridiculously paranoid!”_

“...well, I'll be damned,” Jeremy whispered, mostly to himself. “I'm really doing it, then...” 

A peaceful hush blanketed the room. Nobody asked Jeremy to clarify what he had meant by his words. Even Newton remained respectfully quiet. 

Tears began to stream steadily down Jeremy's face, but the dark-haired man was too distracted by all that he was experiencing to care about saving face. Raleigh leaned into his brother when Yancy wrapped an arm around his shoulder. They watched Jeremy raise his hands slowly, lightly trailing his fingertips across his forehead. A warm smile formed on his lips as he did so. 

“I’m _Drifting_...”


End file.
